Second Chance for The Chosen One
by sachin6291
Summary: Blessed by Arceus and the Creation trio Ash gets a chance to live his life again. with the knowledge of the future he will start his journey to save the world and become a Pokémon Master. Pairing much later
1. prolouge

**I DO NOT OWN POKÉMON**

**(AN: Revised by KitsuneDragon**

Prologue **Revised**

In a place were no human had ever stepped before, four colossal figures were standing tall and were surrounding a human. These four colossus were legendary Pokémon each bearing power beyond comprehension.

**"Ash. Ash, wake up child,"** came a majestic voice making Ash groggily open his eyes. The light that flooded his vision forced him to close his eyes before slowly opening them once more, squinting though as he had to adjust to the sudden appearance of light.

"Ugh, where am I? What happened?" He asked, finally getting used to the light.

**"Where you are matters not, what matters is why you are here,"** said another booming voice.

"What?! Dialga! Palkia! Giratina! Arceus?! What's going on?! Is there any problem?!" Asked Ash, a bit overwhelmed by suddenly appearing in the presence of the rulers of Time, Space, Anti-Matter and the world itself, respectively.

**"Yes Ash, there is a problem...or may I say...many problems," **said Dialga.

"**When I chose you and gave you my blessing, the world was in his way to the darkness,**" said Arceus. **"Corruption, greed and evil had already affected people's heart, but you were blessed to stop the evil and guide it to the golden age."** The God of Pokemon sighed, its red eyes staring into Ash's dark coloured ones.** "Unfortunately, the path you continue to travel along leads to failure**."

"Wha1?! How?! What?! I don't understand!"

**"While you fought many times against criminal organization and corrupt people, you only ended up delaying the end result. Those people's plans were stopped, but their organization continued to grow and expand and that is where you failed," **said Arceus.** "But...maybe the mistake is not yours but ours. We failed to guide you. While it is true that you didn't put all your effort to be the best you can, we cannot neglect that you had no idea of what was to be expected of you." **

**"So we decided to send you back in time, when you were six years old and have planned a path that would be best for you to go through. A way in which you can not only bring about the golden age's inception and eventual creation, but also fulfill your dreams,"** said Giratina.

"I will become a Pokémon master?" asked Ash.

**"Yes, and much more. But you will have to put maximum effort to make it possible,"** answered the Renegade Pokemon.

"So what do I have to do?" said Ash.

"**You may not be realizing this, but only you will go back. In short, your friends will no longer know you as you not have met them at this time and your Pokemon will not be your Pokemon. Well, at least not yet anyways,**" Said Palkia.

"But I will make them my friends again, wont I? I will catch my Pokemon again and I will also be much more prepared," said Ash.

**"True, very well if you accept there is no come back or change of heart,"** said Arceus.

"I accept," Ash stated firmly with an equally firm nod of his head.

**"We expected nothing less. My advice would be to start training in aura as soon as you can. Cameran Palace near the Tree of Beginning would be your best choice,"** said Dialga.

**"Also, take note of this particular detail, Ash Ketchum." **Ash turned to face the ruler of the Distortion World. **"You have done well in training your Pokemon for a person of your age, but you have prevented the evolution of your Pokemon during your many journeys throughout the world. Only when a Pokemon reaches its final evolution. the greatest form that it could possibly achieve, only then can your Pokemon reach his or her maximum potential, " **Giratina spoke with a serious tone of voice.

"But some of my pokemon don't want to evolve," Ash said with a frown. "A lot of them, Bulbasaur, Squirtle, Quilava, Bayleef...they've all stopped their evolutions because they like the way they are. I feel the same and respect their decisions, so why should it be that I become a Pokemon Master and yet I neglect the feelings of my own Pokemon?"

**"Your argument does hold sense to it, Ash," **the ruler of space spoke. **"However, attaining full evolution is the only way that you can be able to truly gain success in your future endeavors."**

**"It is your job to train your pokemon to its maximum potential, so if they don't want to evolve you have to convince and explain that they will have to do so, it is the natural way of the things"** explained Dialga.

**"Do not leave your pokemon untrained and do not abandon them Kingler and Pidgeot would be good example,"** Palkia added.

**"To be a Pokémon Master does not means you have to be only good on the battle field, but at every field. It would do you good if you learned to prepare food for yourself and your Pokemon, navigate yourself through the world without getting too lost and to know how to train all kind of Pokémon,"** said Arceus.

"I will do that and prepare for what is coming," assured Ash.

**"Good bye Ash, may you succeed in second chance"** said Arceus. The four deity Pokemon touched the young boy on his head gently and Ash disappeared in a flash of light.

* * *

A six year old Ash woke up in his bed in Pallet Town

"Ashy wake up!" Called his mom "It is your birthday today!"

'So I'm back' thought Ash

"I am up Mom!" He replied.

Prologue End


	2. Chapter 1

**I DO NOT OWN POKÉMON**

**(AN: This chapter is betaed by KitsuneDragon)**

**Chapter 1 REVISED**

"Happy birthday!" Shouted the entire group of people that had come to his birthday party after Ash blew the cake candles.

"Thank you, everyone!" Replied Ash cheerfully.

"Now Ash why don't you open the gifts," nudged Professor Oak.

"Yeah, open the gifts!" Called one of his friends who seemed more excited than him.

"Ok!" The black haired boy quickly ran forth towards the tower of presents that he had received. He excitedly tore the wrapping off the gifts. 'Man, I forgot how much fun it was to open presents.'

Most of them were toys there was also a Voltorb alarm clock and Ash made a mental note so that in four years, when he turned ten, that he would actually get up on time to get his Pokémon. After putting aside the clock he opened the one from the elderly Pokémon researcher and found that it was an official Pokémon handbook explaining the rules of being a Pokémon trainer and also had a lot of information regarding Pokémon. He also got an official Pokémon league T-Shirt from his mom. While excited, the gifts seemed a bit more suited for someone who was a child.

'Oh wait...I am a child,' He sweatdropped at his own thought. The irony of being a child while thinking his gifts were childish did not escape the lightning bolt cheek marked boy was paramount it seemed as Ash gazed at some his more toy based presents with a slightly bored look since he had the mind of much older person, but in order to keep up the front of being a six year old, he masked it with enthusiasm which had managed to fool everyone. Everyone, but his mother.

—After the Birthday Party—

Ash was sitting on the grass in the back yard of his house, all the guest had gone to their homes already. While he was pondering how would he go on with the mission that had been placed on him, it had to him questioning many things.

How was he to reach Cameran Palace?

What was he to do once he got there?

Who would train him to use aura?

His thoughts were cut short as his mother came outside, the door closing behind her being the notification of her arrival to talk with him.

"Is something wrong, Sweetheart?" asked Delia.

"No mom, why?" Lied Ash.

"You know Ash..." Delia frowned, "...you can't lie to me. You have been acting a bit strange since this morning. Now out with it."

"Mom, you know I want to be a Pokémon Master, the best of the best, a world class trainer..." He paused.

"Of course, honey. I have the utmost faith in you that you may be able to achieve your dream," Delia replied as she ruffled her son's hair.

"Well..." Ash gulped, "...I have been thinking...how am I going to become a Pokémon Master? How will I even travel when I know so little? I easily get lost, I don't know to heal pokémon, I don't even know how to make food for Pokémon or myself. Even if I learn all those things, so many other trainers also know how to do it and they don't seem to become a Pokémon Master. How will I surpass them? What do I have that others don't?"

"Oh!" Delia let out a small gasp, her eyes tearing up with pride as she looked at the serious look on her little boy's face. "My baby is growing up. Well don't worry, Ash. There's a reason the mother is around. I'll have you know that I was quite the adventurous spirit when I was younger. I will train you in all those things and more."

"You will?" Asked Ash excitedly.

"Of course, I was a Trainer when I was young you know. I was even a finalist in the Silver League," stated his mother proudly. "After that Professor Oak took me as his apprentice, then later I met your father. You were born and I had to retire from being an apprentice and raise you. Speaking of Oak, I could even ask him to help you."

"Mom, I would love to learn under you and Professor Oak!" Said Ash excitedly.

"Sure Ashy! We will start tomorrow morning and before you leave you will be ready. I will make sure of it," assured Delia.

—1 year later—

Ash had learned a lot in the last year.

He was a decent cook, but still with room for improvement and he gave special interest in healing injured Pokémon. How to have a good, healthy and well behaved Pokémon was in book a priority. He interacted with lots of pokémon, from a playful Skitty to an angry and scary Gyarados, from a newly hatched Azurill, to a century old Ninetales. There was so much to learn in so little time.

"Ash you must remember that natural remedies are always better than chemical. Pokémon have grown with them, while Potions and Antidotes are new," lectured Delia. "I have already taught you how to use Potion, and while they are practical, they don't go bad quickly. A freshly made Potion can last 5 years, but a berry will last a week or two. But unlike Potions, berries are fed to Pokémon and act upon the whole body. You can also make a juice of it if a pokémon is having problem in chewing."

"Got it. So have fresh berries whenever I can and always carry Potions," said Ash, taking a mental note of the brown haired woman's advice.

"Have you learned by heart the use of each berry?"

"Yes mom."

"Now there are exceptions," said Delia bringing out a bag and showing its contents. "These over here are fresh revive herbs. In the flask there is the same herb, only that it has been dried and grinded. To use them, you fill the flask till it reaches the specified mark with water, shake it well and have Pokémon drink it. They last for about 5 months. If not used in that time, go and give it back to the nearest Poke Mart, they will use it for something else. The flask is of glass and you don't just leave it out there in wild. Any Pokémon Center and Poke Mart accepts empty Potion bottle to be reused," she taught.

"I will. I promise. I don't want other Pokémon to get hurt with broken glass," the seven year old nodded.

"Well then that is that for today," said his mother as she began packing away her stuff. "Tonight I will teach you a new dish and what Steel-type Pokémon usually like to eat. Go to Professor Oak's and see if he is free to teach you anything new."

"Mom, can we go to Cameran Palace in Rota for holiday? They are having this annual festival thing and I really want to go," Ash said.

"Why exactly do you want to go there?" asked Delia knowing that her son was not telling her everything

"Mom you remember when I asked you to train me?" Delia nodded in confirmation to Ash's question. "I also said that I will need something special to be a Pokémon Master."

"Yes I do, that day my baby grew up a bit," she said lovingly.

"Well I think I found that special thing that will help me to be the best," said Ash. "I want to learn about Aura."

"Aura?" Delia blinked in confusion. During her time as Oak's apprentice she had learn of the inner energy said to be found in every object, living or non-living. However, only truly gifted individuals could train in order to utilize the power of Aura. Delia frowned as she looked at her son.

"You are too young to train in Aura, that is if you even can," refuted his mother. "Not everyone can learn to use Aura."

"But mom I want to give it a try. If I can, I would like to learn as soon as I can," requested Ash. "Please mom, we lose nothing in just giving a try. If I can't learn Aura we will just have fun over there as holiday."

Delia's frown deepened as she thought it over. Her son did have a point. She sighed as she nodded before smiling at her little boy, "Ok! We will go there next week. Talk about it with Professor Oak also, maybe he will come with us as well."

"Thanks mom and I will ask Professor if he wants to come. I heard that near there is a mysterious place called the Tree of Beginning, I am sure he would love to see that place!" He exclaimed as he prepared to leave. "Bye mom!"

"Bye sweetheart and if Professor Oak is busy do not disturb him and come back home!"

—Next day—

"Morning mom!" Called Ash as he came down to breakfast. The smell of pancakes and bacon filled his nostrils, especially the bacon. Everyone loved the bacon.

"Good morning Ash! Did you sleep well?"

"Yes mom," answered Ash. "Smells good mom, what are you making?"

"Your favourite, pancakes. Did you brush your teeth?"

"Yes mom."

While Ash used to have horrible table manners, Delia was not going to let the opportunity go seeing her son now was very willing to learn suddenly. After some time, Ash had finally gained some table manners and now he could maintain small talk while eating.

"Ash, you never told me what the festival of Rota is about."

"From what I have read from Professor Oak's book it is a festival in honour of an Aura Guardian who died long ago to save the land of Rota," said Ash. "People go dressed up in renascent clothing; there is a dance and a tournament… I would have loved to participate in the tournament."

"Hum, what is this tournament about?"

"Oh, the tournament is for anyone who wants to take part, you challenge lots of people in an individual one on one battle!" Ash was practically bouncing in his seat. Like any child, the prospect of a battle, or any form of action in particular, never failed to excite him. "The winner gets to be Aura Guardian for a day or something like that, but the really cool thing is that he or she gets to hold the staff of that aura guardian and if an Aura user holds it, the crystal at the tip of the staff glows."

"So… you want to participate in the tournament?" asked Delia.

"Yes, but I cannot because I don't have any Pokémon," he said dejectedly. "I hope that they allowed me to hold the staff for a minute."

"Or..." said his mother. "I can lend you a Pokémon of mine so you can participate."

"Really?!" He exclaimed with disbelief. "But...but will they even obey me? It's not like they are my Pokémon. Professor Oak taught me that a Pokémon that is not your own most likely will not obey your commands."

"Not the one I am thinking of, he will listen to you if I tell him to," said Delia.

"Which one is it?" Asked a very excited Ash.

"I will show you in Professor Oak's ranch. Go wash the dishes while I water the plants and then we will go."

"Aww, can't we go now?"

"No young man," She said with stern 'mother voice'. "Now wash the dishes, take a shower and then we will go. The sooner you do, the better."

"Ok mom," said Ash knowing that he would have to wait because his mom would not give in.

—At somewhere far away—

In a place untouched by mankind, filled with beauty of nature, a man named Riley and his Lucario were doing their daily meditation when they sensed that they were being called back to Cameran Palace in Rota.

"Lucario, it seems that we have to go back to the palace," said Riley.

"Rah" said Lucario, but Riley understood thanks to aura that he said, 'Y_es master!_'

—In another place—

Traveling through a village in the region of Jhoto there was a bulky man traveling with a Pikachu on his shoulder. Since he was much more attuned with Aura, he sensed the call from Cameran Palace.

"It seems that we are returning home, my friend."

"Pika Pika."-'_It has been long time'_

He smiled and answered "Yes it has" and changed his route towards Rota.

(**AN: Don't know his name, but he is the Aura Guardian referred in the "_The Keystone Pops!" _only older)**

—In the crystal of Sir Aaron's staff, **1 Year ago**—

'Where am I?' He asked himself as he sensed his surroundings. 'I am again in the crystal? Did I ever leave the crystal?'

Silence retained in the world around Lucario.

'What happened after I became one with the Tree of Beginning; have I gone back in time?'

"Mew" he head and focused his Aura outside.

'Yo_u have awakened, Lucario,' _came the soft feminine voice of Mew.

'_Lady Mew?!'_

'_A lot has happened and I know you have many questions, but please let me speak first.' _

The disembodied spirit of the Aura Pokemon nodded within its confines.

_'Please, enlighten me. I am unaware of what has been going on on the outside.'_

'_Sir Aaron sacrificed himself to end the war as you already know, but the war was only the result of evil and greed that tainted the heart of people and Pokémon alike. As time went by, the peace and understanding that came with Sir Aaron's sacrifice had started to fade. Darkness, no, I should say evil, has once again started to appear in hearts of people and Pokémon. Organizations like Team Rocket, Team Magma, Team Aqua, Team Galactic and more have once again started to appear. This, as you know, causes damage to the tree and pain to me. Your sacrifice, like Sir Aaron's, healed the tree and me. But because of technology, your sacrifice did not have the same effect and after a short while, evil began to appear again. Only this time...there was no Aura user to calm my pain, and I, with the tree. started to die. Using the last of my strength, I left the tree and this world to meet father or should I call him Arceus. Father came up with a solution: To give his chosen one a second chance. I along with the tree and Ash are the only one that are aware that the timestream has been altered in our favour.'_

_'But what of the lord of Time? Surely Lord Dialga's realm would be affected by this.'_

_'True it would, but remember that Dialga is ruler of the fourth dimension of time. Dialga made it so that his realm would not be affected due to this as his very breath controls the flow of time. Anyway, continuing from where I left off, because you were part of the tree, you remember what happened or at least some of it.'_

'_Lady Mew, what can I do to help in the cause?'_

'_Very soon, the chosen one will come and set you free. Father has given me the ability to call all the Aura guardians here when he comes. You, along with them, are to train him. You will also accompany him in his journey as his Pokémon to continue training him and he will lead to an era of peace and understanding. The golden age will be brought about with the boy's help.'_

'_I will do as you ask.'_

'_Thank you Lucario. For now, I will keep an eye on Ash and tell you when he is about to come. Oh, and Ash is six now, much younger than you last saw him, but his aura will be the same.'_

'_I shall wait for the moment.'_

'_Good bye, Lucario' _A white light outlined the ancestor of all Pokemon before Mew teleported.

—Rota—

Mew teleported to the Tree of Beginning with the knowledge that Ash was coming, and called the only 2 living guardians. She cried a bit in pain as being in the Tree amplified her senses and feeling all the negativity coming from the world hurt her soul, but she was strong and could withstand pain for few more years. After all, she wasn't a legendary Pokemon for nothing.

She had one more thing to do: Tell Lucario. Then she can go to sleep. She hadn't slept in days as she had spent most, if not all of her time observing Ash, watching the scientific recreation of her, and looking after the Tree was really exhausting.

—Pallet Town—

It was the middle of the day with the sun shining bright and the Pidgey chirping as they flew around the area. Ash and his mom were walking towards Professor Oak's lab. Ash could barely contain his excitement of having a Pokémon battle. He had convinced his mom to battle against him. It still amazed him how he didn't knew that his mother was a trainer, or that she had really cool pokémon like Blastoise (Her starter), Nidoqueen, Steelix, even a Dragonite. He wondered which one she would let him use. She had 40 pokémon from two regions which is more than he had from Kanto, Johto, Orange islands and Hoenn if he didn't count the number of Tauros, which reminded him, his mother also has a Tauros.

'Maybe she will let me use it'. The seven year old was so lost his thoughts he hadn't realized that he was already in Professor Oak's lab.

"Ash, we are here," said Delia seeing her son in his own dream world. "Here," she said handing him a Poke ball. "It has an Umbreon in it."

"An Umbreon, that's so cool mom." Said staring at the Poke ball "So what moves does he know?"

Delia tapped her chin in thought. "If I remember correctly...he knows Quick Attack, Confuse Ray, Assurance, Moonlight, Toxic, Hyper Beam, Psychic, Payback, Detect and Flash," listed Delia.

"Mom. You. Are. AWESOME!" He exclaimed, stars shining in his eyes. Delia flipped her hair as she placed her hands on her hips, standing a bit straighter as her ego swelled.

"So how about you get to know Umbreon for the next five days and then we battle?" Asked the former trainer.

Ash released Umbreon from his ball and introduced himself.

"Hey, I'm Ash." Umbreon blinked its red eyes in confusion before turning to see its original trainer standing beside the boy.

"Umbreon!" The Moonlight Pokemon pranced around Delia before nuzzling her leg.

"It's good to see you too, old friend." The Moonlight Pokemon nodded in agreement.

"Now Umbreon, I have something important for you to do." The evolution of Eevee sat on its haunches as it awaited its trainer's orders. "My son, Ash, he's going to be taking part in a battle soon, his first battle. So I'd like you to be the one to fight with him. Ok?" Delia asked.

"Umbreon and I will work together until then and do our best, wont we?" Ash turned his attention to the black and yellow furred Pokemon.

"Um!" The moonlight Pokémon nodded in agreement.

"Let's go out and watch how you do those moves," said Ash. Umbreon, despite being a respectful and dignified Pokemon, was actually quite the vain individual. With a smirk, the Moonlight Pokemon and Ash ran towards the large backyard of the elderly researcher's house/lab where Umbreon quickly began to show off.

"Professor!" called Delia. "Have you decided to come with us?"

"Hmmm. Yes." Answered Oak "It will be a great opportunity to get more info on Aura and there is a possibility that we can go to the mysterious Tree of Beginning. No researcher has ever stepped in there; did you know that the tree is made mostly of stone and crystals and many pokémon not native to Kanto live there?"

Delia rolled her eyes at the gray haired man's enthusiasm towards his research. He never failed to act like a child who just got candy when he came to his research objectives.

"You will need to dress up in a costume for the festival. Do you know where we can get a costume?" Asked Delia.

"Don't worry Delia, they have costumes already there. There are lots of costume to wear for people like us who don't live in the town."

"Well it looks like Ash is busy now," said Delia looking at Ash from the window as he was enjoying his time with Umbreon.

"Professor, do you need any help?" She asked as she watched the man aim to pick up a rather large box.

"No, I've got it."

-CRACK!-

"Ok, I think I just threw out my back. I may need help."

"You know, for a genius, you really aren't that smart when it comes to domestic work." Delia sweatdropped.

And so the Chapter 1 Ends


	3. Chapter 2

**I do not own Pokémon **

**(AN: This chapter is revised by KitsuneDragon)**

**Chapter 2**

—Pallet Town—

It had been five days since Ash got Umbreon. They were learning to trust with each other very quickly and today was the day of their test to show how much they had grown together and how ready was Ash to be a trainer.

"So Ash are you ready?" Asked Professor Oak who was acting as a referee.

"We are ready, Professor," replied Ash with a confident tone.

"Umbreon!" The red eyed evolution of Eevee nodded firmly as he took battle stance, leg muscles tensed.

"And you, Delia?" He turned to the older Ketchum.

"I am ready also," she said holding a Poke Ball.

"Very well," Professor Oak nodded. "This is a one-on-one battle between Ash Ketchum and Delia Ketchum..." Professor Oak raised his hand into the air and then brought it down in a chopping motion. "Begin!"

"Persian, battle time" Delia called out. The red and white orb popped open and revealed the evolved form of Meowth standing in all its glory. Persian stopped licking its paw before glancing over at Umbreon, a glint of cat-like mischief shining in its black eyes. Umbreon's crimson orbs narrowed at its opponent.

"Umbreon, let's show mom and Persian want we can do!" Encouraged Ash.

(_Moves Umbreon: Quick Attack, Confuse Ray, Assurance, Moonlight, Toxic, Hyper Beam, Psychic, Payback, Detect and Flash_)

(_Moves Persian: Shock Wave, Pay Day, Iron Tail, Dark Pulse, Hypnosis, Odor Sleuth, Amnesia, Substitute, Aerial Ace and Power Gem)_

"Umbreon let's start with **Quick Attack** to get in close, then follow it up with **Confuse Ray** at point blank range!"

Umbreon launches himself leaving a streak of white light as a representation of how fast in was moving. Umbreon moved in a zig-zag pattern so as to confuse his opponent, but Persian remained stationary.

"Persian, stop Umbreon with **Shock Wave**!" Delia commanded. Persian nodded before its fur spiked up as electricity built up around its body, blue sparks of excess charge bleeding off of its body. The electricity continued to build up until Umbreon was just about to reach Persian's location and then the Cat Pokemon discharged electricity in all directions, intercepting Umbreon and making him cry in pain and effectively stopping him.

Umbreon skidded backwards from the electrical pulse, a line of dust marking its path. Umbreon shook its head before snarling at Persian.

"Umbreon, **Flash!**" The Moonlight Pokemon's ring-like patterns began to glow before they released a brilliant flash of golden light. Persian released a yowl of pain as its eyes were rendered temporarily unusable, the world blurred around it.

"Persian use **Shock Wave** once more!" Called Delia. Knowing Persian was pretty much all but blind, it was best to react with the move that could not be avoided.

"Hang tough and take it Umbreon!" Umbreon initiated running towards Persian once more while taking the electrical attack. The canine-like Pokemon was sent backwards from the electrical pulse, but quickly returned to running.

Now it give back two times with **Payback** and follow it up with **Assurance!**"

"Persian dodge!"

But Persian was still disoriented and as a result, it was not capable of dodging well. The end result was that it took the two attacks directly. Umbreon's body glowed with a dark violet energy before it body seemed to increase in speed. Persian was struck by **Payback **as Umbreon dealt numerous strikes to its body before Umbreon appeared in front of the evolved form of Meowth and slammed its back legs against Persian's chest when it performed **Assurance.** The damaged Pokemon released a cry of pain and was thrown back.

"Persian, are you alright?" Persian rose to its feet and nodded deftly.

"Perrrr," she purred and took up a fighting stance again.

"Use **Iron Tail!**"

Persian charged forth, her tail glowing with a silver light as the tail appeared as if it were made of iron. Persian leaped into the air and flipped as it fell to build up momentum. "PER-SIAN!" Persian brought down its tail upon Umbreon.

"Umbreon use **Detect,** follow it with **Confuse Ray.**" Umbreon's eyes released a flash of red before it quickly avoided Persian's strike, a small crater forming from the impact Persian made with the ground, however Persian was caught off guard as Umbreon appeared in her face, eyes glowing brightly. Persian's eyes appeared as swirls as she became confused.

"Persian, no! Persian use **Substitute!**" Commanded Delia as she hoped to buy some time for her Pokemon.

Even confused, Persian performed **Substitute** successfully.

"Umbreon, use **Psychic** to get rid of that substitute."

Umbreon eyes glowed a bright blue and the telekinetic attack raised the substitute into the air. The substitute was slammed into the ground and into trees before it was crushed and broke apart. The remnants of the substitute then dispersed into smoke.

"Now Umbreon, while she is still confused, use **Toxic!**"

Delia yelled for Persian to move, but she was too confused to listen and began to slam her face into the ground, hurting herself from the confusion. In the end, she got hit with **Toxic** head on. Umbreon's pores leaked the poison on Persian's body and ended up poisoning the Normal-type.

As **Toxic** began to take effect, the confusion wore out and Persian could think clearly again. Persian grunted in pain from the poison affecting her body, but remained standing.

"Well done Persian. Now use **Hypnosis!**"

Persian sent wave of psychic energy towards Umbreon, eyes glowing with crimson light.

"Umbreon dodge!"

"Again!" called Delia.

Seeing that Umbreon could not dodge it again through normal means, Ash did the next best thing. "Umbreon use **Detect!**"

"Once more!" Insisted Delia. Third time's charm really applied to this situation as Umbreon got hit with **Hypnosis**, but due to lack of practice she forgot that Umbreon is Dark-type and Psychic moves don't affect him.

"How?" Ash blinked in confusion along with Umbreon. The Moonlight Pokemon was still conscious. Ash then snapped his fingers in realization. "Oh, right Umbreon is Dark-type."

Delia took the maximum advantage of the distracted Ash and struck forth.

"Persian use **Power Gem** followed by **Iron Tail!" **The ruby on Persian's forehead glowed before releasing a ray of white light that shone as if it were of gemstones. Umbreon released a cry of pain as he was struck in the face by the attack and before he could even attempt to dodge, Persian's amazing speed allowed it to reach her target, tail glowing like silver. With a felin battle cry, Persian spun on her heels and slammed the iron hard tail against Umbreon's body.

Umbreon flew back, slamming into the trunk of a nearby tree. Ash gritted his teeth as he watched his Pokemon get beaten back.

"Umbreon use **Moonlight!**" Umbreon's ring-like patterns glowed before encompassing his body in golden light. When the glow died down, Umbreon was looking a lot better, although some bruises and scratches were still present. Persian however was not faring better. The poison from** Toxic **was still affecting her and her legs were now shown to be wobbling, trying to support the weight of Persian's body.

This was not going the way Oak thought this battle would play out. It looked like Ash was winning; the kid seemed like a natural in the battlefield, like he had been doing it for years, not someone who got his Pokémon 5 days ago.

Similar thoughts were going through Delia's head, 'It seems I am getting rusty and my Ashy is good. I can't believe I am losing. I am so proud of you, son.'

"But if I'm going to go down, I might as well go down swinging," she muttered. "Persian use **Iron Tail** again!"

"Not this time, Umbreon use **Flash** and dodge **Iron Tail!**" The flash of gold blinded Persian, stopping the feline in its tracks as she was temporarily blinded once more.

"Don't let up, **Aerial Ace** and **Shock Wave**! Let's go!" Despite being temporarily blinded, the other senses of the feline Pokemon allowed her to locate its target without too much difficulty and so Persian took off at high speeds, leaping off of the trunk of a nearby tree as she increased her momentum and crashed into Umbreon's body with the Flying-type move. A pulse of electricity followed after, but Umbreon dug his paws into the ground and countered with **Assurance** before he could be sent flying back.

"Now finish it with **Hyper Beam!**" Umbreon opened his maw and orange and yellow energy pooled together to generate a sphere of concentrated energy.

"Ummmmm-BREON!" The spheroid burst apart as a powerful beam of energy. The attack tore through the air at a rapid pace and Persian could only stare with blurred vision as the orange and yellow flooded her vision and a powerful explosion marked the end of the battle.

**Hyper Beam** hit its mark leaving a knocked out Persian, swirls in its eyes signifying that it had fainted.

"Persian is unable to battle; the winner is Ash Ketchum and Umbreon!" Announced Oak.

"We won Umbreon, we did it!"

"Umbreon!" Cried Umbreon excitedly, jumping towards Ash and making him fall backward and started licking him.

"Hahaha, we did it buddy!" He said scratching Umbreon behind his ears.

"You did very well Ash. I am so proud of you," said Delia hugging Ash.

—1 Weak Later in Rota—

On a sunny day Oak, Delia and Ash were walking through a bridge between multitudes of people all dressed in old fashioned clothing going towards the palace.

"Hold!" Came a guard's voice. "Are you here to compete?"

"Don't be rude Edward," said another guard. "Forgive him, he's new. Anyway, welcome to the town of Rota, the site of Cameran Palace. Today we have the annual tournament of arms before the Queen Ilene. I understand that you're one of those who registered to compete?"

"No, Ash here is participating," said Delia. The two shocked guards watched the young seven year old, but they didn't say anything lest they anger the obviously protective mother before them.

"Everyone else is wearing wonderful old costumes. I feel kind of out of place… is there a place where I can get something to put on that goes with the theme?" She asked.

"Why yes." He made a tick on his clipboard. "There's a dressing room in the palace, on the second floor. You have about two hours before the tournament starts. It's full of old outfits, you can choose from there."

"Thank you," said Delia. The three then moved on to the costume room.

— In the dressing room—

"Now, where is it?" The room was full of costumes, all of them from the past. Ash saw there was an Aura guardian suit in there, but not his size, well not his size in three years. The cons of time travel it seems. The black haired boy kept browsing through the racks of clothing before his eyes widened when he found his outfit.

"Found it!" He exclaimed.

"Found what, honey?"

"This" he said showing the Aura guardian's costume.

"Brilliant stye," said Oak.

"Well? Why don't you try it on?" Asked Delia.

"Yeah!" Ash took the outfit and moved on into the changing room. Following his example, Oak and Delia also went to change

Meanwhile, Umbreon, who was out of his Poke ball, saw a Tailow enter through window. Catching Umbreon's attention, the bird Pokémon hid behind the curtains while Umbreon approached with curiosity. In a flash of light behind curtains, the Tailow changed into an Eevee, startling Umbreon. With a snicker the Eevee jumped through the window and ran across the adjacent rooftop, leaving a surprised Umbreon behind.

Just as the Eevee left, Ash came out of the changing room dressed like a mini Sir Aaron and waited for his mom and Professor Oak to come out, unaware that he had just missed a chance to meet the ancestor of Pokemon. Luckily or unluckily, he would met Mew many more times in the future.

—Stadium of Cameran Palace—

As the time for the tournament approached, the stadium began to fill with viewers and participants. Finally the trumpeters began to play as Queen Ilene, walking with a Mime Jr., entered the stadium, flanked by two Aura Guardians and their Lucario and finally her handmaiden.

"Let the tournament for the title, Hero of the Year, begin!" She announced. The crowd erupted into cheers and the queen smiled at her subjects' enthusiasm before she took her seat.

The first match luckily was between Ash and another trainer.

"This is a one-on-one battle. Are both of the participants ready?" Asked the referee.

"Yes!" They both said.

"Then begin!"

"Umbreon, I chose you!"

"Let's go, Pidgeotto!" Called the opponent.

As the battle began, the two Aura Guardians beside Ilene noticed Ash, but mostly the amount of aura he had.

"Your highness, is it possible for us to meet that kid?" Asked Bernard. "He has an exceptional amount of Aura in him."

The dirty blonde member of royalty looked at the older of the two Aura Guardians beside her with a wide eyed expression.

"Aura?! A boy that young could use aura?" A nod from Bernard was her reply. This got Queen Ilene very interested in Ash. An Aura user, especially one outside of the kingdom, was exceptionally rare.

"I am sure you can meet him after the tournament." Ilene answered.

"Of course," replied Riley as he saw Ash's first win in the tournament as Umbreon has used Psychic to ground the Pidgeotto, rendering it unconscious.

The following matches were short and easy. Umbreon was quite a competitor and due to the fact that it was a battle hardened Pokemon, it gave Ash the edge he needed in order to tear through the competition. Psychic and Hyper Beam were truly his friends in the tournament. Soon enough, Ash now stood in the arena for the final match.

"Thank you all for your patience in watching these amazing battles so far!" The referee exclaimed. "But, I'm afraid the excitement has just about reached its climax as the final round of this year's tournament will begin! Your two combatants are Richard from Olivine City in Jhoto and, in quite a surprising display of prodigious skill and tenacity, young Ash Ketchum of Pallet Town in Kanto!"

"Are you both ready?!" The referee glanced at both trainers. Richard and Ash nodded firmly. "THEN LET THE BATTLE BEGIN!"

"Umbreon, I chose you!" Ash exclaimed.

"Quilava, get ready for battle!" Richard announced.

In simultaneous flashes of white light, the Moonlight Pokemon and Volcano Pokemon appeared on the battlefield. Both pairs of crimson eyes glowed with battle lust, legs tensed as they prepared to act on their trainer's respective orders.

(_Moves Umbreon: Quick Attack, Confuse Ray, Assurance, Moonlight, Toxic, Hyper Beam, Psychic, Payback, Detect and Flash_)

(_Moves Quilava: Flame Wheel, Brick Break, Rest, Flamethrower, Ember, Aerial Ace, Swift, Quick Attack, Double Team, Take Down)_

"Umbreon **Quick Attack!**" Ash initiated the battle. Umbreon's legs pushed against the ground, rushing forth in a burst of speed that left a trail of white behind it.

"Quilava intercept with **Flame Wheel!**" Richard ordered. Quilava raced towards Umbreon with amazing speed before tucking himelf into a ball, his flames expanding and coating his body. The ball of flame that was Quilava then rolled towards Umbreon and the two Pokemon collided against each other, but Quilava's attack proved to be the more effective one at causing damage.

Umbreon was sent skidding backwards along the ground.

"Now follow up with **Quick Attack **and** Aerial Ace**!" Quilava did as Richard commanded and trails of white light followed behind the Volcano Pokemon as it sped towards Umbreon.

"Umbreon, **Detect!**"

A barrage of attacks raced towards Umbreon as Quilava used amazing reflexes and speed, even going so far as to bounce off the walls of the arena in order to try and score a hit on the black furred Pokemon, however Umbreon's detection skills were truly something to behold as he avoided the Normal-type and Flying-type moves with minimal effort.

However, once Quilava has gotten close enough, Ash made a move.

**"Confuse Ray!" **

"Quilava, use **Quick Attack **to accelerate and skid beneath it to dodge and then use **Brick Break!**"

Quilava suddenly incremented the speed of spinning and charged straight at Umbreon. Ash smirked as he watched the head long charge, Umbreon's eyes glowing brightly as Quilava was nearing the range to be caught in the Ghost-type move, but his and Umbreon's eyes widened when Quilava suddenly dropped down low and skidded beneath Umbreon's body, successfully dodging the **Confuse Ray. **Quilava then popped back up as he exited between Umbreon's hind legs and his two forelimbs glowed with white light.

"QUILAVA!" The Volcano Pokemon cried out as hit Umbreon with **Brick Break,** dealing lot of damage because of the super effectiveness of the move. Umbreon released a cry of pain before Quilava took a deep breath and expelled a powerful stream of fire from his maw. **Flamethrower **scored a hit and Umbreon soared through the air and into the arena wall.

Umbreon stood on shaking legs as the dust that kicked up from his collision with the wall dispersed.

**"Moonlight!" **Was the order Ash gave to his Pokemon. Umbreon's rings glowed on his body and he was rejuvenated by the mystic forces that operated with his body whenever his ring patterns glowed. Richard gritted his teeth before pointing at Umbreon.

"Use **Flamethrower!" **The stream of fire rocketed towards Umbreon, scoring a direct hit, but Ash smirked.

"Umbreon, get in close with **Quick Attack!" **Umbreon's body moved rapidly, his shoulder slamming strongly against Quilava's muzzle, but the counter attack didn't end there as Umbreon's body glowed with a purple aura. "**Payback** followed by **Assurance!**" He used the same combo that he used on his mother's Persian.

"Quilava, dodge it!"

But Quilava was not fast enough and took lot of damage as the two Dark-type moves scored direct hits on the Volcano Pokemon.

"Quilava **Rest!**" Richard declared smartly, seeing that if Quilava got hit again he would be knocked out. Quilava curled up like a Skitty and fell asleep, health steadily rising with each breath he took. However, Richard's eyes widened when he heard Ash's next words.

"Umbreon, while he his asleep use **Hyper Beam!** Full power!" He declared.

Umbreon took a bit of time to charge the attack, orange and yellow energy condensing into a sphere with Umbreon's mouth. However, once the energy reached its maximum, Umbreon reared back its head and let loose the most powerful Norma-type move and it was then that the Fire-type Pokemon began to wake, but it didn't matter because Quilava was a sitting duck.

"No Quilava!" Called Richard as he watched his Pokemon become engulfed by the Dark-type Pokemon's attack. Quilava was then sent flying through the air by the resulting explosion and fell to the ground before Richard's feet, unconscious.

"Quilava is unable to battle! The winner is Ash Ketchum and his Umbreon!"

The entire crowd cheered for the wonderful battle, the loudest being Delia who was also taking lots of photos.

"We did it Umbreon!" He said to Umbreon with a large grin.

"You are very talented for a young kid," said Richard extending his hand for a handshake. "You will go far kid"

"Thank you, Richard," Ash said shaking his opponent's hand.

"It seems that the kid has got lot of potential," said Riley seeing Ash celebrating with Umbreon.

"Seems so," said Bernard.

"He won Professor, he won the tournament!" Said Delia excitedly.

"Yes, it seem that battle is his natural call," replied Oak.

"My Ashy always dreamed of becoming a Pokémon Master," said Delia proudly. "It seems that he can achieve that title in future."

All of this was watched by a Pidgey on the roof, its uncharacteristically blue eyes watching with an amused look before it flapped its wings and flew away, transforming into a Pidgeot in mid-flight.

—In the ball room—

After the tournament had ended, Ilene had announced that there was to be a ball and banquet in honour of the new "Guardian of the Aura". True to her word, the ball had indeed taken place, the palace ballroom being filled to the brim with people. Ash was presented to sit in a throne that overlooked the ballroom.

"In honour of our champion, I present to you the staff of this kindgom's saviour. May you hold the staff with pride, young Aura Guardian." Ilene presented Ash with Sir Aaron's Staff. He suddenly heard a voice from the jewel calling, "Ash?", startling him a bit. Ash's eyes stared widely at the shining crystal. Luckily for him and the staff's tenant, the lights reflecting off of the crystal did much to prevent anyone from noticing the odd glow coming from it.

'Lucario?'

'It's been a while, we have much to discuss.'

'It sure has. Wait a bit longer before I call you out,' thought Ash.

'Alright,' the Aura Pokemon replied.

'Wait a minute, how do you know me?' asked the young Pokemon trainer.

'I know that you are from the future and so does Lady Mew,' said Lucario.

'How? And Lady Mew?'

'Yes, Lady Mew. It was her that informed Arceus, her father, what the situation of the world was in the future. I will explain everything later when I am released from the staff,' informed Lucario.

'Ok, when you come out don't tell anyone about time travel or the future,' requested Ash.

'Yes, that is an obvious thing to not tell others. It would be for the best, and I want to remind you that I still have sand in my eyes,' Ash sweatdropped at that.

'Ok, I will bring something to clean your eyes with.'

'…'

'…'

'…'

'I'M SO BOOOORED! I forgot how boring it was to watch every one dance while I sit here, I don't know how Queen Ilene can sit there with a smile,' whined Ash.

'I have an idea, why don't you...' Ash's eyes widened as he heard Lucario's little idea.

'ARE YOU INSANE?! I CAN'T DO THAT!'

'Of course you can. You're seven, you can get away with anything at this point.' Lucario argued.

'Good point.'

The Guardian of the Aura, got up from the seat, gently resting the staff against the throne he sat in, and approached the queen before the maid stopped him.

"Young champion, you should not leave your throne," she said. Ash frowned before leaning to the side so he could look at the queen who was watching him with a curious glance. Ash gave her a small wave which she happily returned. Knowing that he now had her attention, Ash let loose an ear-to-ear grin.

"May I have this dance with you?" He asked her, leaving the maid and the Aura Guardians beside her, stunned

The queen blinked in surprise as she looked at the seven year old boy. After registering the question in her mind, she giggled and nodded.

"Sure," she smiled as she rose to her feet. No one had ever asked to dance with her due to her being the queen and well, overprotective Aura Guardians and knights did tend to lessen the amount of times you get asked to the dance floor. Ilene and Ash moved in a small waltz, the old two step never failed after all.

"Well aren't you a good dancer," she smirked.

"I aim to please, milady," he replied with a sly wink.

"Smooth too," she giggled while they twirled in the dance floor.

"The kid has got some serious courage. Not even I would have been so bold as to ask her to dance," said the Aura Guardian, Bernard.

"Yeah!" Riley laughed as he saw many people staring at them.

"Ash is finally using the dance classes I gave him," said Delia clapped happily as she looked to Oak.

"With a queen none the less," added Oak.

"Well he always liked to do the things in a big way; his dream is to surpass all the other trainers and become a Pokémon Master, even coming here was because he wanted know if he could learn to use Aura and gain an edge over other trainers," boasted Delia with pride.

"It looks like Ash has his mind set about his future," said Oak.

"Isn't Gary the same? I always hear from Ash that he wants to be the best trainer as well," Delia added.

"No." Oak shook his head, "Gary just wants to grow out of my shadow and I understand that. He will not show it, but he doesn't like to be known only as my grandson, hence he also wants to be a Pokémon Master. Being my grandson puts lot of pressure on him. They expect him to know a lot so he spends a lot of his time in books and it's a good thing he likes it otherwise I'd be worried for his mental health. I would say Gary will end up becoming a researcher like me," rambled Oak

"I see, what about Daisy? She is usually quiet."

"Daisy is different. She doesn't have any issue about being my granddaughter. She is happy as my assistant, but her call is of a breeder. I usually leave her in charge of Pokémon eggs and the young ones."

"It seems that the dance has come to end" said Delia as she began to hear clapping.

It was true; Ash was leading the queen to her throne and went to his seat where he gripped the staff in his hands once more.

"We will now pay one last tribute to Sir Aaron; our new guardian will give us the signal to start the fireworks!" The queen notified the crowd.

Ash was looking left and right as if finding a clue to what to do when the maid came and pointed the portrait of Sir Aaron holding the staff. Ash blinked as he turned from the maid to the painting and back again. The process was repeated several times before Ash got the picture...literally.

'Lucario, now come out!' Thought Ash.

'About time!'

"I always thought that this part is a bit ridiculous," Bernard whispered as he leaned over to Riley.

"Yeah, standing like..." Riley had cut the talking when the crystal of the staff began to glow and the staff began to shake.

"Is something wrong?" Asked the maid.

"You can't seriously be asking that? The staff is shaking and glowing for Arceus's sake!" Ash exclaimed as he gripped the staff tightly in order to prevent himself from dropping it.

"Ash can become an Aura user!" Whispered Delia in awe.

"What do you mean an Aura user, do you know what is happening?" Asked Oak.

"This is why Ash wanted to be here. The staff will glow in the hand of someone who can learn the use of Aura. Ash told me that if this happened he would train in Aura as well," informed Delia.

Everyone was in awe; the two Aura Guardians stepped in front of the Queen to protect her if needed.

A light shot out of the staff before the light began to take on the shape of a humaoid fox. The light then died down to reveal the form of Lucario.

"Cool entrance!" exclaimed Ash.

'Bring the two aura guardians, the queen and those that came with you,' said Lucario with telepathy

"I will bring them. And here," he said giving him a piece of cloth, "Clean the sand on your eyes with this."

Lucario took the cloth and wiped away his eyes. Once that was done, the closed eyes of the Aura Pokemon snapped open revealing the crimson irises that held much wisdom and power within them. Lucario then ran away from the crowd and through the doors.

"Lucario of Sir Aaron?!" Exclaimed Queen Ilene with disbelief.

"Are you sure? If it is..." Ash looked at the staff in his hands in awe, "...then this must be some kind of ancient Poke Ball!"

"Ash!" Called Riley. "What did Lucario say?"

"Oh right. He said he had something to tell me, you two Aura Guardians, the queen, mom and Professor Oak," informed Ash.

"Where did he go?" Asked the maid.

"I don't know," he shrugged. "You know, Lucario should really tell people where he's going if he wants to meet up with people."

—After all the other guests left—

Bernard led the group towards Lucario since he could sense Aura much better than Riley. They had navigated through the halls of the large castle of the queen before coming to a stop as they reached the attic. Numerous Pokemon based toys, like a rocking Ponyta, a Banette in the Box and Marill shaped baby rattle to name a few, lay scattered about the attic. Lucario leaned against one of the support posts, the moonlight shining down through the attic windows.

"Lady Ilene," said Lucario through telepathy, "you resemble Lady Rin so very much."

"Lucario," started Ilene surprised, "how do you know who I am?"

"Lady Mew has kept me informed of the occurrences of the world," said Lucario and Mew teleported to their location

"Hello everyone," came the sweet and serious voice of Mew through telepathy.

"By Arceus, its Mew! This can't be real!"

"I assure Samuel Oak, this is very real," Mew stated, her blue eyes focusing on the aged researcher. "We, that is, Lucario and I, have much to discuss regarding the young boy, Ash Ketchum."

Everyone grew silent. Ash became a bit nervous as everyone focused their attention on him.

"Why were you in the staff of Sir Aaron?" Asked Riley, breaking the silence.

"Sir Aaron was going to sacrifice his life for the peace of the world. As you know from the history texts of Rota, a large war had broken out in which Pokemon and humans fought alongside and against each other in a battle to decide who would rule the world. The Green and Red armies as they were nicknamed for obvious reasons, were fighting each other for years before Sir Aaron and I had stepped in to aid in stopping them. I went to stop Sir Aaron from sacrificing himself at the Tree of Beginnings and take his place when he trapped me in the staff."

"So, he basically didn't want you to do that. Switch places with him I mean," Bernard stated, to which Lucario nodded in confirmation.

"But why appear now? What is it that got you out of the staff?" Delia asked.

"Only someone with the same aura as Sir Aaron could free me," informed Lucario as he nodded to Ash.

"I saw when Ash was born that he had the same Aura and did so that he came here to free Lucario and train in the use of Aura," informed Mew. "He has a big destiny ahead of him and that is why I also called the two Aura guardians here... to train him."

"So that is why I am here" said Bernard "I didn't know why I felt a need to come here. So you were the cause of that shift in the Aura?"

"I was," she replied.

"So I can really learn how to use Aura?! That is so awesome!" said Ash. "We can start as soon as we reach Pallet Town!"

"No Ash" said Mew as she shook her head. "You will have to learn about Aura here in Rota."

"But...but he is only seven!" Delia exclaimed. Her face sported a look of sadness at the thought of going back to Pallet Town with out her son.

"I am sorry Delia, but it will be only for a year, then he can spend some time here and some time in Pallet Town," informed Mew. "I will personally teleport him and Lucario every month."

"Lady Mew, myself as well? My duty is to Rota and Cameran Palace, " said Lucario.

"It was Lucario, key word being 'was'. Now, you are needed to be with Ash. The world will need Ash and he will need help. I hope you don't mind going with him," Mew said.

"I will do as you ask" replied Lucario with a sigh.

"Will you be Ash's pokémon from now on?" Asked Mew.

"If you deem it necessary, I will Lady Mew," said Lucario as he dropped down to one knee before the Psychic-type Pokemon.

The next day Ash's training began. During the first week Lucario, Riley, Bernard taught Ash in using aura and whatnot and Delia and Oak had taken the little amount of time they had left to teach Ash any domestic and Pokemon based skills and/or research that would help him. After that, Delia and Oak had to return to Pallet Town and their part of teaching was taken over by Queen Ilene and her handmaid who had nothing better to do with her time, except for running the kingdom of course. Ash had become like a younger brother to the two Aura guardians and to the queen. He trained daily with Umbreon as well which his mother had allowed him to keep.

After a year, the now eight year old Ash usually spent six months in Rota and six months in Pallet Town. Two more years had ended up passing between training, studying and fun. Now at ten years old, the time had finally come for Ash to begin his journey through Kanto.

**Chapter 2 End**


	4. Chapter 3

**I Do Not Own Pokémon**

**(AN: after reading the last part of Chapter 2 which summarizes the next three years I may have been hasty so I am going to extend that part in this chapter and add more story. And yes Ash will have more pokémon.)**

**Chapter 3**

The next day Riley, Bernard, Lucario and Ilene made a timetable for Ash that will keep him busy

5:30 wake up

6:00-8:00 physical training with Bernard

8:00-9:00 shower, breakfast

9:00-14:00 Study in library with Queen Ilene (later sis)

14:00-15:00 Lunch break

15:00-17:00 aura training (with Lucario and Riley)

17:00-20:00 pokémon training

20:00-21:00 freshen up and free time

21:00-22:00 Diner and to bed

The first week his study time was with Prof. Oak and Delia. Delia also spent time with Ash during pokémon training, where she shared her experience as a trainer she was very passionate about it. He liked to learn about this part of his mom, it bought them closer because they has something in common, but this also made him question, why did she stop being a trainer and so he asked her once.

"Mom, you were a good trainer so why did you stopped being one?" asked Ash

"Well when I was a trainer your grandparents were not very happy with me traveling." Began Delia "As far as they saw, being a trainer didn't have much future, so they always insisted that I dedicated my time to something else. When I saw a chance to become an assistant to a world renown researcher, I accepted, later I got married, had you, a baby takes your whole time, and until recently I had forgotten the joys of being a trainer"

"So you are going to become a trainer again?" asked Ash

"Maybe I should, I certainly don't have anything else to do, I might also help Prof. Oak" said Delia

"So you won't go and travel" asked Ash

"Ash, dear, I am not as young as you, traveling every day, sleeping on the ground, going through different weather and so much more." Delia sighted "I don't think I can do it. But I can be a trainer and train my pokémon, not all the trainers travel continuously"

"Ok mom but I want to battle you once again when I get my eight Kanto badges" challenged Ash

"All right, so that will be… four years from now approximately" said Delia "why then?"

"Because by then I will be a trainer who will have caught and trained many pokémons"

"So…" started Delia seeing it was time to end the training session "I guess this is it, tomorrow morning Prof. Oak and I are going back to Pallet Town"

"I will miss you mom" said Ash

"I will also miss you honey" said Delia "you have been given an unique opportunity, do not waste it, don't misbehave and remember to change your underwear"

"Mom!" whined Ash and Delia giggled "at least you didn't say it in public. That would have been so embarrassing!"

"Come on lets go inside, you have to take shower"

–At Dinner –

"So, Prof. Oak, is the staff really an old pokéball like crystal?" asked Ash

"My studies on pokéball are very limited, if Kurt was to see the staff, he might be able shed more light to the topic" replied Oak

"You mean the pokéball maker in Johto; he makes all kind of different exclusive pokéballs" Said Bernard

"Oh yes, he is an old friend of mine, he makes them from Apricorns like Level Ball, Moon Ball, Friend Ball, Lure Ball, Love Ball, Fast Ball and Heavy Ball" informed Oak

"Friend ball?" Asked Ash

"Yes, a pokéball which is made from green Apricorn, their unique chemical composition stimulates the pokémon brain to be happy; it is easy to be friendly to a happy pokémon" explained Oak

"Do you think that I can get, let's say ten of this pokéball when I start my journey" asked Ash

"I can by then, yes, but back to the topic. In my little studies I have found out that crystal can hold more than one pokémon, how many I do not know. Its composition is really hard second to diamond, however it does not has any safety back up" informed Oak

"What do you mean?" Asked Delia

"Every pokéball have a backup mechanism so that if the ball is damaged or destroyed the pokémon is released from it and suffers no damage. Recently you can also take the remaining of the pokéball to a pokémon center and they will give you a new one programed for the pokémon you had in that pokéball" explained Oak

"So that's it. That is all it does, the staff I mean" questioned Ilene

"No, my studies are limited, I don't have the machines that I have in my lab to study completely" informed Oak

"I am afraid to tell you that the staff will not leave Rota, it is a historical artifact that is irreplaceable" said Ilene "I am sorry"

"I understand." Said Oak

"Thank you" said Ilene gratefully and the dinner went peacefully

'Yawn' "I am really tired, I am going to sleep" said Ash

"Yes it is past your bed time" said Delia

"Good night everyone"

"Good night Ash"

–Four months later–

"Alright Umbreon, once again, try to reduce the time it takes to prepare and make it smaller but with same amount of energy in it" said Ash running the training drill when he heard a bark and someone impacting on something hard, the curiosity got better of him and went to investigate. When he reached the place he saw a Growlithe practicing some move with little success.

The Palace has many Growlithe and Arcanine residing around it, they were trained as guards long ago and yet generations later they still guard the Palace, Ash after some observation saw that he was practicing Flare Blitz, a difficult move with recoil damage.

"Hi Grwolithe" said Ash getting the canine's attention "it seems you are having difficulty with that move, Flare Blitz isn't it?"

"Growlite growl" he barked and nodded

"you could do with some help" said Ash "How about I help you with it, we start today and continue every evening from 17:00 till 20:00"

"Growilite" he happily bark

"Well let's begin"

–At Dinner–

"So how was your evening?" Asked Ilene

"Good, I made a friend, a Growlithe." Said Ash "he is trying to learn Fire Blitz"

"A Growlithe huh" Asked Bernard

"Yes the little guy is very determined, so I agreed to help him when I train my pokémon" said Ash

"There are over 120 Growlithe around this castle and about 40 Arcanine, every year the Growlithe compete between them and one male and one female get a Fire Stone" informed Ilene

"So he is training to compete, but Growlithe have ability of Flash Fire If I am not wrong, the fire type moves will not help him much and it will only deal damage to him because of recoil" Said Bernard

"Yes, you can suggest him to learn Wild Charge" said Riley "They are quite similar moves, only that this one will help him also with a water type if he ever faces one"

"That sound as a good move I will get all the info from the library tomorrow"

–Time Skip–

The Growlithe trained by Ash became an Arcanine on his second year under Ash's training, he practically spent all his time with Ash, the only Ash reason hadn't caught him is because he couldn't catch a pokémon until he got his pokémon trainer license or he would have caught the canine pokémon. Ash had also convinced the other Aura Guardians for them and their Lucario to push a big amount of Aura in the Tree of Beginning.

After the first year Ash spent six months in the palace and next six months in Pallet Town, his mom had taken to training her pokémon again and Ask knew that he would have harder time if he faced her again. Ash was also formulating a plan for getting his Pikachu because he wasn't going to receive a starter from Oak, Mew has said him that he could get Pikachu's memory back and only two more pokémon, for some reason it was limited

Time had passed and it was a week before he started his journey. Ash had received gifts from Queen Ilene who he now called sister: a Poké-Nav with blue carcass an outfit dark blue hoodie jacket with the Aura Guardian symbol on its back, baggy pants, the gloves of Sir Aaron with the fabric changed because the old one was in a bad condition and a Black cap with Aura Guardian logo. His mother gave him four flutes. A red glass flute that snaps one pokémon out of infatuation, a white glass flute that when blown, it makes wild Pokémon more likely to appear, a yellow glass flute that snaps Pokémon out of confusion and a blue glass flute that awakens a sleeping Pokémon all with instructions on how to use them, he was practicing to use them because he knew that it would be very useful to know how to use them

Lucario and Arcanine had been said to keep the watch around Pallet Town to see if they find Pikachu. They found him three days before they began their journey and had been immediately teleported thanks to Mew to the Tree of Beginning where he recovered his memories

Ash now had officially one pokémon given to him by his mother; unofficially he had three more all of which he had planned to capture the moment he got the pokédex that is where we are now at Prof. Oak lab's door at exactly 00:01

"Hello Professor"

"Ash? What are you doing here at this hour? Is everything alright?"

"Well… I am here for my trainer license and Pokédex"

"But you will get that tomorrow like everyone"

"But professor it is 00:01, it is today when you will give pokédex only few hours later"

"And why won`t you wait few hours then"

"I am not getting any starter and am beginning my journey very early tomorrow morning, before even the sun rise I want to be in Route 1, so instead of awakening you early morning I came now seeing that the lights of the lab were still on"

"Grandpa who is it" came a feminine voice

"It is Ash" he answered "very well then you convinced me come in so I can input your data and you can get your Pokédex"

"Hi Ash" said Daisy "what are you doing here tonight"

"Well I came to register myself as a Trainer"

"And grandpa agreed?" she asked

"Yes, he did, I did gave him good arguments" he explained

Daisy giggled "Gary is going to be in a big surprise, he put his alarm clock very early so he could be the first one to register"

"Sorry if I woke you"

"Don't worry I and Grandpa were studying nocturnal pokémon"

"Well here you are your Pokédex, with your five Pokéball and the ten Friend ball you asked me to arrange for you" said Prof. Oak

"Thank you very much Professor"

—Outside of The lab—

Well guys I have the pokéballs, so are you sure that you want to accompany me through this journey?

"Pikachu" the pokémon nodded

"Arcanine" the pokémon barked and nodded

'It is my duty' said Lucario telepathically

"Very well then, pokéball go" he tossed three at the same time and none resisted to the capture

"Come out" Ash called

Ash herd giggles from behind, when he turned around he saw Daisy

"Now Gary is going to be really jealous of you, four strong pokémon and not even an hour" said Daisy

"Yeah I am quite lucky to have them on my team" acknowledged Ash

"Grandpa tells me that you have great potential" she said "and I have to agree with him"

"He does huh?" said Ash with a smile "Well I want to be the best someday"

"The best? Oh my, don't you aim big" she giggled "well if the best in making needs any help with young or baby pokémon, call me they are my specialty. Here is my number" she handed him a piece of paper with her number and a kiss on the cheek

"th-thanks Daisy" he sputtered and tried to scamper away "good night"

"aww so cute" Daisy giggled "Good night Ash"

Umbreon, Pikachu, Arcanine and Lucario snickered

'Well master it seems that you are going to attract lot of female attention' he said teasingly

"Stop talking Lucario" said Ash

'I did not talk but communicated with telepathy' he replied

"Don't be a smart ass with me" said Ash angrily

'Well?' asked Lucario

"Well what?" said Ash

'Are you going to feed that number into your Poké-Nav?' he asked

"Of course, it can be very useful; we might get pokémon egg in our journey" explained Ash

'Are you sure that is the only reason, you won't call her for a date or something?' inquired Lucario

"no I won't!" replied Ash irritated

'Pity, she is quite good looking human'

"Can we not talk about this topic?"

'As you wish'

'so… is May the one you are interested in?'

"ugh. No I am not interested in girls yet, I am ten for Arceus sake"

'not really, you…' he was cut out as a red light hit him

"Lucario return" he recalled him in the pokéball "there, much better"

"Now come on we have to go to bed, we waking up at five in the morning"

"piiikaaaa" whinnied Pikachu

"No Pikachu you are not going to keep on sleeping, we have to start training, and you are quite fat now than you were in the future"

Pikachu didn't like the comment on him being fat and decided to give him a thunder shock "pikachuuuu" through it was very weak and hardly did a thing for an Aura trained Ash

"And also weak, that didn't have any power behind it; I doubt you could even do a thunder bolt as you are now"

"chu" said dejectedly

"That is why we will have to train. So tomorrow morning we wake up at five, you will recharge anyway with the lightning from the storm that will happen tomorrow in Route 1"

"Pikachu" said pumped up

"Mom I am home" called Ash

"What were you doing out this late night" inquired Delia

"I went to get my trainer license; I plan to leave very early in the morning around five thirty" explained Ash

"Why so early?" she wondered

"Early bird gets the worm, or in this case the pokémon" he smiled at his own joke

"Ok it seems that I have to get up earlier tomorrow to make you a breakfast for you to eat" stated Delia

"Why it is not necessary…" not wanting his mom to give up her sleep

"Nonsense it's not every day that your son begins his journey. Tomorrow you will have a nice breakfast" Delia stated

"Thanks mom" said Ash knowing she was set in doing so

—Next day—

It was still dark and cricking of the insects could be herd in the quite morning, Ash and his pokémon were on the border of Pallet Town and Route 1

"so guys this is Route 1"Ash said to his pokémon "Pikachu wake up" he said poking the little mouse's head"

"chaaa" he yawned and stretched

"Arcanine mind giving me a ride till the river side ahead in the Route"

"Ark" he baked and lowered himself so Ash could mount him

"the rest of you will follow me so you are completely awake for your training, and if we are lucky we might even find a Gyarados in the river to catch before Misty shows up"

'who is Misty?'

"oh right! you guys except Pikachu do not know her" began Ash "Misty and Brock accompanied me through Kanto and Johto. Misty also traveled with me through Orange Islands. Through none of that has happened yet. And I do not want to fry her bike again. Humm… I will have to think a way to get her to accompany us" said Ash while he heard the sound of running water "it seems we are here. Lucario I want you to check out surrounding and tell me what pokémons are there also whether they are awake or asleep. Pikachu you will do stamina training, run until you can't run more, Arcanine and Umbreon both of you will continue to do your Aura sight ability and with practice we can use it in long stressing battle. It is five fifty five, nearly six, you will be training till nine and then we will have a break"

The four pokémon called out in agreement

'Ash, there are Mankeys, Pidgeys and Nidoran in the trees, Magikarp and some Gyarados in the river. The Mankeys, Magikarp and Gyarados are asleep, some Pidgeys and Nidorans are awake'

"hum… a Nidoran can be a good addition, let's find them and see if we can catch them"

After walking for five minutes they heard a rustle in the bushes where a Nidoran-m tried to flee

"Lucario intercept him"

Lucario blurred out of sight and appeared in front of the pokémon

Nidoran-m seeing no escape got into battle position and charged Poison Sting

"Dodge and use Water Pulse low power"

With a side step he dodged the attack and in less than a second he had charged a very small ball of water, which he launched at high speed towards the small pokémon knocking it out

"Go pokéball" he threw the white and red ball towards the fallen Nidoran-m

"Well that was easy" Ash said to Lucario "now we return where the others are and heal this little guy"

Back at the base he healed Nidoran-m with a revival herb and had Lucario use heal pulse "so how do you feel Nidoran"

"nido nido" the pokémon jumped happily

"Well I am glad you are ok" he said as he scratched the pokémon head "this over here my team, the one you are part of now"

"nido" he ran behind Ash intimidated by Lucario and Arcanine

"Do not worry they will not hurt you" he said bringing him in front "that is Arcanine, he is really friendly and that is Pikachu, he will be your training partner for now, that black one is Umbreon he is mostly quiet and last but not the least is Lucario, the one you fought."

The Poison pin pokémon introduced himself and talked to everyone, meanwhile Ash scanned his moves with Pokédex

Nidoran-m: the Poison Pin Pokémon. Its large ears are always kept upright to sense danger, which he relates with his poisonous horn, the larger its horns, the more powerful its secreted venom.

Ability: Poison Point

Moves: Leer, Peck, Focus Energy, Double Kick, Poison Sting.

Level: 7

"Well guys that is enough for the break, now back to training" Ash called the group after fifteen minutes break "Nidoran you will do stamina training with Pikachu" the small pokémon nodded and began running behind the electric mouse pokémon while he began to meditate and expand his Aura senses and later he would train in combat with Lucario

—At nine o'clock—

"Well guys stop and take a break" called Ash as he evaluated his pokemon

Lucario had not been touched by Ash yet in the spars they had. Pikachu looked like he was ready to drop and Nidoran-m has reached his limit an hour ago, Arcanine and Umbreon looked quite fresh, but that was because they had been training hard for three years now

"Well Nidoran and Pikachu will continue your Stamina training, Lucario you will spar with Umbreon, and Arcanine we will see if we can catch a Gyarados after the break"

'Ash not far from here there is a person approaching in a bicycle'

"So misty is finally here huh?" said ash to himself "Lucario go and check if the girl has orange hair"

"Pikachu, here is the plan, during the electrical storm today evening I want you to act as if you at overcharged and fry her bicycle. Make it look like an accident" he explained to Pikachu

"Well now we relax and wait, the last time I woke up at 11:00 and left Pallet town after lunch" said Ash to his friends "I met Misty much later"

'Yes Ash she has orange hair'

"Well we have a plan now"

After an hour Ash's pokémon resumed their training, while Ash rode Arcanine upriver where he knew there was a big lake with many Gyarados and Magikarp

"Well Arcanine, here we are. Now to bring attention of a single Gyarados" said Ash as he expanded his aura senses "at two o'clock near the shore there is one quite young and isolated, use Solar Beam there"

Arcanine also expanded his senses and knew exactly where to aim the beam of concentrated solar energy.

An angry roar was heard and Gyarados emerged from water searching for the offender

"Dodge any attack and make him come close to the shore" ordered Ash

The atrocious pokémon charged towards Arcanine with the intent of biting Arcanine who dodged with ease

"Get some distance and use Wild Charge"

Arcanine jumped back and shrouded himself with electricity and charged towards Gyarados with a speed that he atrocious pokémon could not dodge. The attack did a lot of damage to Gyarados causing him to faint

"go Friend ball" he hurled a green ball towards the fallen pokémon who did not have enough energy to break free

"Yes! Now I have a full team, and on my first day as trainer" cheered Ash "let's go back to rest of the group Arcanine"

"Arcanine" the pokémon nodded and ran down river with Ash riding on him

When he reached the rest of the pokémon he saw Gary Oak waiting him and his car with the cheerleading group not far away

"hey Ashy-boy" taunted Gary

Normally that would have made Ash angry but now with a much older mind and many hours of meditation he found it very childish

"hey Gary, what are you doing here?"

"Came to challenge you to a battle Ashy-boy"

"I am afraid you will have to wait a bit, I have an injured pokémon in this Pokéball who needs first aid" and began to dig in his bag for Revival herb and five Oran Berry

"Come on out" he called Gyarados leaving a stunned Gary

The pokémon glared Ash who didn't look away but instead came closer; the ball seemed to have affected Gyarados because he still hadn't attacked Ash when he fed him the medicine

"Now take a rest and you will be as good as new" Ash said to Gyarados as he creased his head and received a weak roar in return

"Lucario please use Heal Pulse on Gyarados" asked Ash

"Well Gary, how do you want the battle" asked Ash returning his attention to Gary

"I… um, will battle you later, yeah, umm… now be a good trainer and take care of your pokémon" Said Gary and walked towards his car

"Smell ya later Ashy-boy" he yelled as he drove away

"huh, that Gary…" Ash shook his head "well at least he knows that he can't face me yet"

"well guys keep on training, I will call you all when the lunch is ready" said Ash to his team and received a roar from each pokémon

To be continued…

* * *

Pokémons

**1. Umbreon**: Level 55

Quick Attack, Confuse Ray, Assurance, Payback, Hyper Beam, Moon Light, Detect, Shadow Ball, Bite, Areal Ace

**2. Lucario**: Level 80

Aura Sphere, Aura Shield, Close Combat, Extreme Speed, Flash Cannon, Dragon Pulse, Water Pulse, Heal Pulse, Dark Pulse, Bone Rush

**3. Arcanine**: Level 40

Wild Charge, Flare Blitz, Extreme Speed, Flamethrower, Solar beam, Dig, Double Team, Agility, Outrage, Iron Head

**4. Pikachu**: Level 12 (with knowledge of future, he knows all these moves but his current body can't use them yet

Thunder Bolt, Thunder, Volt Tackle, Electro Ball, Agility, Quick Attack, Thunder Wave, Iron Tail

**5. Gyarados: **Level 20

Trash, Bite, Dragon Dance, Tackle

**6.** **Nidoran-m****:** Level 9

Leer, Peck, Focus Energy, Double Kick, Poison Sting


	5. Chapter 4

**I Do Not Own Pokémon**

**(AN: OK BEFORE YOU COMPLAIN I FOUND A BEAT READER AND THIS LAST CHAPTER HAS BEEN CHECKED BY X.e x e (without space)ALSO THERE IS A POLL ON MY PROFILE FOR 2 POEMON SO PLEASE VOTE. Well my rant is over)**

**Chapter 4 REVISIED**

As soon the first drop of rain fell on Misty, she began packing. She sighed to herself 'Well today was useless, all I was able to fish was a Magikarp' she thought as she loaded all her stuff into her bag 'I will try somewhere else tomorrow, but for now I want to be in the Pokémon Center before the coming storm hits.'

Meanwhile Lucario who was keeping an eye out saw her starting to pack and went to tell Ash.

'Ash' said Lucario 'she is leaving.'

"Shit!" said Ash thinking on the fly he said "Alright everyone except Pikachu and Lucario return!" he said as he recalled the rest of his Pokémon "Lucario, how far is she?!"

'Fifteen minutes walking' he replied 'and the storm is coming in quickly.'

"Well we will have to get ahead of her; she is most likely going to Viridian City!" he and began to run besides Lucario and Pikachu.

The storm came faster than expected and it made running and maneuvering the bike through the muddy landscape difficult. Ash had yet to reach Misty when he heard a crash and a scream just as lightning stuck in front of him. He picked up the speed and found Misty on the muddy ground, soaked, some scratches, and most importantly unconscious with her bike not far away charred and unable to be used.

"Pikachu, you stay here and absorb as much electricity as you can from the lightning. You need to expand those electric sacs and you will not get any chance like this one soon!" Ash said since he knew this was only going to happen once.

"Lucario, you accompany Pikachu while he absorbs as much of the lightning he can, then come to the Pokémon Center." he ordered "Arcanine come out!"

"ARR!" he growled as the rainy weather was not his favorite.

"Arcanine we need a lift to the Pokémon Center, it's urgent so I want you to be quick!" he yelled with urgency as he placed Misty and sat on Arcanine "Oh, and Lucario bring her burnt bike with you."

Arcanine rushed to the Pokémon Center with Officer Jenny tailing them yelling them to halt, which they did right out of the Pokémon Center.

"Hold it!" yelled Jenny "Just where do you think you're going with that unconscious girl and that Pokémon young man!"

"The Pokémon is mine and she's someone who I found hurt. I'm taking her to the Pokémon Center." explained Ash "Maybe this will help" he said and handed her his Pokédex.

"_I'm Dexter_" came a male mechanical voice "_A Pokédex programed by Professor Oak for Pokémon Trainer Ash Ketchum from the town of Pallet, my function is to provide information and advice regarding Pokémon and their training, if lost or stolen I cannot be replaced_."

"Very well, and who is the unconscious girl?" asked Jenny

"Can we go in, it's pouring out here." asked Ash

"Yeah, sure." she said sheepishly

"Nurse Joy! We have an unconscious girl who needs help!" yelled Jenny

"Oh my!" exclaimed the nurse "How did this happen?"

"I don't know, I just found her beside a charred bike" said Ash

"Do you know who she is?" interrogated Jenny

"I don't know, you can check her bag if you want. I just found her unconscious on Route 1." explained Ash fully aware of who she is.

"By the way Officer Jenny, I left two Pokémon a Pikachu and Lucario training in the Route 1. They will come here as soon as the storm ends."

"And why did you abandoned your Pokémon in the storm." continued Jenny with the interrogation.

"I didn't abandon my Pokémon, I just left them training, they'll be here soon." defended Ash.

"That's not good enough, there are Pokémon thieves running around this place!" scolded Jenny "Now go and get your Pokémon back with you!" she yelled and pointed the door

Ash grumpily went to search for his Pokémon. It's not like they couldn't take on the trio of Team Rocket, taking into account that the rain was slowing down. They should be coming towards Viridian City anyway.

Pikachu was walking beside Lucario when they found Ash. He was continuously emitting sparks from his cheeks because he had absorbed in excess so he could expand his electrical sacks, this of course came with a side effect as he was now hyperactive and most likely won't sleep well tonight unless he discharged.

"Well here you are, and it seems that Pikachu did good job."

"Pikachu!" said the Pokémon pleased.

"Try to hold it until tonight, when you can discharge it on Team Rocket." said Ash "Let's go to the Pokémon Center."

As they were walking a majestic cry from a bird came from behind. It was a magnificent sight. A phoenix- like bird made out of white, gold, and silver feathers glinting in the sky surrounded by a golden aura that seemed to glow on its own. (Yes Shiny Ho-oh). He flew blowing away the clouds to let a visibly beautiful afternoon sky and big rainbow in the horizon.

"Look guys, Its Ho-oh, I'd forgotten because of Misty's accident that we saw one this very day!" Ash said in awe from this majestic bird.

Lucario felt something small fall and drift a bit far away with the breeze, which he went to pick up and gave it to Ash. It was a feather from Ho-oh, shining brightly under the sunlight. Ash decided to place it in his bag carefully, like a good luck charm.

"Well let's get back, we have to do a lot of training!" he said pumped up "There is still a lot of daylight to burn!" and he sprinted back to the Pokémon Center followed by his Pokémon.

They trained until dinner, Pikachu, Nidoran-m and Gyarados were the main focus of the rest of the training, Gyarados was learning to slither on ground, Pikachu was strengthening his tail and Nidoran-m was gaining overall strength pulling rocks

"Nurse Joy!" called Ash

"Oh, hello Ash." she greeted cheerfully "What can I help you with?"

"How is the girl I bought here?" asked Ash

"She's fine now, just a few scrapes but she seems to have hit her head leaving her unconscious." said Nurse Joy "But she will be awake and walking by tomorrow."

"That's good." said Ash relieved.

"Anything else?" she politely asked.

"Umm yeah, I would like a room for tonight please." asked Ash politely.

"Of course, your Pokédex please?" she asked while typing something in the computer.

"Here" he handed her the Pokédex and she inserted it machine to complete the room registration.

"Here is your Pokédex and here is the key, the room is on second floor, room seventeen." giving him the said items "Have a nice stay!"

After dropping his stuff, Ash went for a nice dinner. When he returned to the Pokémon Center Nurse Joy informed him that Misty woke up before dinner, and if he wanted to speak he could do it now.

_Knock, Knock_

"Come in!" Misty said to the person behind the door.

"Hello I'm Ash Ketchum and this is Pikachu." "Pikachu!" Pikachu waved his hand from Ash shoulder.

"Hi I'm Misty," she introduced herself "Nurse Joy said you bought me here. Thank you."

"No problem." Ash waved it off "You gave me quite a scare when I found you in Route 1. What happened?" he asked curiously as he took a seat beside her bed.

"Well I was fishing when it started to rain, so I decided to return to the Pokémon Center. The rain turned into a storm, so to avoid it I tried to pedal faster, but that was a mistake, because the road was made of mud, it became slippery, I slipped and knocked myself out cold."

"Well it could have been worse, you could have suffered the same fate of your bike." said Ash

"What happened to my bike?"

"It was burnt crisp, most likely struck by a lightning I saw right after your scream."

"Well, that makes me feel a bit better." she smiled

"No problem." he said "So are you from this city?" asked Ash trying to make small talk

"Oh no, I'm from Cerulean City." She sighed "I'll be going there tomorrow morning."

"Well that's great I'm also going to Cerulean City, but before I'll go to Pewter City to get the gym badge there first."

"I don't really want to go to Cerulean City, but it happens to be that the best bike shop in Kanto is in Cerulean City."

"Why don't you want to go to your home city?" asked Ash with fake curiosity.

"It's complicated, but in short I said that I wouldn't return until I became a Water Pokémon Master."

"Well, I am trying to be the best trainer there is." said Ash "So I wouldn't mind traveling with a Water Master in making." he said to her with a smirk.

"I might accompany you." she said with a smile.

_Knock, Knock_.

Nurse Joy poked her head in the room

"Mr. Ketchum, there is a call for you." she informed

"I'll be right there, Thank you Nurse Joy." said Ash

"Well I am glad you are OK Misty, I will see you tomorrow morning."

"Goodnight Ash."

"Goodnight Misty."

"It seems you made it to the Pokémon Center in the Viridian City." said Oak

"Yes, this afternoon" said Ash "Wait, how did you know I was here?"

"I just called Nurse Joy and she said that you indeed were there."

"umm professor Oak. You know that I have a Poké-Nav don't you?" said Ash "if you want to talk with me you can always call me there."

"Oh, you're right; I'll remember that the next time."

"So what do I owe this call for?"

"I just wanted to know if you reached it safely and also I kinda had a bet" he said a bit embarrassed. "My grandson said that you wouldn't have a single new Pokémon by the time you reached Viridian City. I bet him a million Pokedollars that he would be wrong."

"Well I guess you're lucky, because I now have a full team." he replied coolly.

"So what Pokémon did you catch?"

"I caught Nidoran-m and a Gyarados, that friend ball was very useful!"

"Impressive!" said clearly impressed "Trainers usually do not catch a Gyarados on their first day."

_"Ding dong."_ Someone ringed the bell at Prof. Oak's lab

"Well there's my pizza; it was nice talking to you Ash."

"Goodnight, Prof. Oak."

"Well, I might call Mom and Sis, or they might worry."

Suddenly the sirens started to go on in the Pokémon Center, "Your attention please, your attention please, Viridian City radars have detected an aircraft belonging to the Pokémon Thieves, please be cautious as they are dangerous."

As on cue, two Pokéballs dropped off from the glass roof

"Koffing/Ekanssss."

"Hey, what the?!"

"Don't be frightened, little boy." came a female voice from the smoke.

"Allow us to introduce ourselves," said a male voice.

"To protect the world from devastation...

...to unite all people within our nation.

To denounce the evils of truth and love...

...To extend our reach to the stars above.

Jessie!

James!

Team Rocket blast off at the speed of light...

...surrender now or prepare to fight.

MEEEEEEEEEEOWTH, THAT'S RIGHT!"

"What's happening here?!" came Nurse Joy rushing

"You don't get it do you?" mocked Jessie

"We are here for the Pokémon" smirked James

"Why didn't you say so" Ash said with a straight face "Nurse Joy it seems that they've left here without their injured Pokémon and they're back for them."

"THAT'S NOT IT BRAT!" shouted Jessie "WE ARE HERE TO STEAL THE POKÉMON!"

"Why would you want to steal your own Pokémon?"

"BECAUSE THEY ARE NOT OURS!" yelled Jessie getting on her nerves.

"Ahh, you should have said so, instead all that crap of taking a rocket of love to the stars above or whatever you said." he said trying hard to hold his laughter, but Pikachu fell from his shoulder holding his sides and laughing hard.

"WHY YOU LITTLE!" she raged "NO ONE MOCKS OUR MOTTO AND GETS AWAY WITH IT!"

"Calm down Jessie he doesn't know who he is talking to." said James sniffing a rose,

"You two idiots should stop wasting your time here and get those rare and valuable Pokémon." reminded Meowth AKA the self- proclaimed Top Cat.

"You are right. Ekans/Koffing Attack!"

"Go Pikachu!" Pikachu stopped laughing and came forward to battle "Use Thunder Bolt full power!"

"PIIIKACHHHUUUUUU!" Pikachu's discharge was big enough for it to be seen from Pallet town; thankfully this time it didn't cause Koffing's gasses to explode.

After another interrogation with Officer Jenny, Ash called his Mom and Sis before he went to sleep.

—Next Morning—

"Misty, wake up." said Ash "If you want to be in Pewter City by tonight we have to leave soon."

"Ugh, what time is it?" she yawned and rubbed her sleepy eyes.

"It's already six o'clock." said Ash exasperated "So hurry up!"

"Six o´clock?!" she yelled "That's too early! Let me sleep till nine at least." she pleaded

"Well, ok" said Ash as he went towards the door, "I just thought you wouldn't want to sleep in a forest full of bugs. Tonight, guess I was wrong."

"I'm up, I'm up, ok?" she convinced Ash

"Ok. We will meet in the front door in an hour." Ash said and left to buy some training supplies

—At the Poké-Mart—

"Hello, how may I help you?" asked the shop attendant

"I am looking for physical training equipment for Pokémon."

"You are a traveling trainer?"

"Yes"

"Well there is this new set, but it is very expensive."

"What is it?"

"All you can possible need to train your pokémon: different weights that go from 1Kg to 1000 kg can even use it if you are training a Machamp or any of those strong Pokémon, movement restriction spring, more than enough for 6 Wailord, in different hardness through you will just have to place one of these on the Pokémon and they automatically adjust. There is three of this gun like thing that aims at targeted pokémon and throws paintball at different speeds for reflex. This is a complete training set"

"Are you sure that all that is that small box"

"Yes you can check them now if you want. We have means to put giant living pokémon in a ball that can shrink to the size of a Ping-Pong ball; we obviously have means to put all those non-living things in this box that is four times a size of a pokéball, in fact most of the bag today carry a similar technology"

"How much is it?"

"40,000 "

"That's my three years saving!"

"Well, if you buy that I will include a TM, HM learner with some promotional moves"

(AN: I will add later date 3 moves I need)

"Also add 10 Superball and you get a deal"

"Done"

"Here is the 40,000"

"Thank you. Please if you need anything, do come again"

"Ok bye"

"So what do you think Pikachu, want to use the new training set? We still have half an hour before we have to meet with Misty"

"Pikachu"

"Well since we are going to walk, I will put a low movement restriction set on you. But first let's go to the Pokémon Center"

"Hi Misty" called Ash bring her attention "Are you ready?" He asked "We will soon leave towards Viridian Forest, if everything goes allright, we will be at Pewter City by night"

"Do we really have to go through the forest?"

"Well it is the shortest way, unless you want to travel for a week"

"But I don't want to go through that bug infested forest"

"What is wrong with that?"

"Bug are one of the three most disgusting thing in the world"

"I would say you fear them more that they disgust you"

"I do not fear them"

"It is ok to fear, in fact I would say that there is something wrong with you if you fear nothing, but you yesterday said you wanted to become a Water Pokémon Master, but if you are not able to overcome your fear you will never become one"

"Alright, I will go to that stupid, bug infested Forest, Happy?"

"Yes, now wait a bit, I have to put a movement restriction set on Pikachu"

Ash and Misty and Pikachu had been in the Viridian forest for eight hours much less time than ash had anticipated, finding Caterpie was easy since he was near where he caught that pokémon the last time, but Pidgeotto was another thing, it was pure luck that Pikachu heard her voice from the sky when they were having Lunch break, or they would have had to search the whole forest for her. Team Rocket had come again for Pikachu, but were as always blasted away. With the two pokémon caught and automatically sent to Prof. Oak lab Ash led Misty to the edge of Pewter City quickly thanks to the Poké-Nav and Arcanine.

—3 o'clock edge of Pewter City—

"Pewter City is gray, the color of stone" came a man's voice "this town has always been famous for stone"

"What the?" said Misty startled "who is this old guy"

"Never meet him" lied Ash "but I think he is a local from around here"

"The name is Flint" said the newly introduced Flint "and you are standing on my merchandise young lady"

"umm… sorry" said Misty "so you sell rocks"

"Yes Pewter city souvenirs, want to buy some"

"No thanks" said Misty

"By the way it will be 2 for standing on my rock" causing Misty to face fault

"I will pay you 20 if you show me the places that I am locking for" counter offered Ash

"What places?"

"First the Pokémon Center of Pewter, Pikachu is exhausted from running with restriction." He mentioned the panting electrical mouse, who had been running beside Arcanine (AN:Arcanine was carrying 2 person and was running through forest with his big body so he was not running at his fastest)

"Chaaa" Pikachu whined and Ash took off the movement restrictor

"And after we get the room I also want to find the abandoned hydroelectric plant around here and see if it is still useable" said Ash

"I will show you the two places for 30" flint tried to bargain

"20 or I will ask someone else and they will most likely show me the way for free"

"Deal" said Flint

"Are you sure you can trust this guy" asked Misty

"I will give him the money after he shows me where I want to go"

Scene change

"Here is the Pokémon Center" Flint said at the door of the said building "there is a working hydroelectric plant just outskirt of the city, but the water level is too low right now"

"Thanks, wait until we get a room and I will come with you" said Ash "Let's go Misty"

"Alright Ash"

"Hello Nurse Joy" said Ash "We want a room for two weeks" he said

"Of course, your ID please" said Nurse Joy

"Here" he gave her his Pokédex while Misty was searching hers in the bag "wait a sec… ah ha, got it" and she gave her an ID card

"All correct" she typed the info in the computer. "It is the room in number 3 at the second floor. Thank you for your visit" she said cheerfully

"Misty can you place my bag in the room, I am going to see Flint and find this electrical plant"

"Ok Ash" she accepted and he went out to find his new the training area for coming weeks

—Two Weeks Later—

Ash had trained all his Pokémon intensively through the two weeks, specially focusing on the more recent addition.

Caterpie had the most noticeable growth; he evolved into Butterfree and had learned Sleep Powder and Confusion.

Pikachu's speed and electrical sacs had grown a lot and he was once again able to use his Iron tail and Thunder Bolt.

Nidoran-m was quite close to evolving, his speed and strength had incremented and he had also learned Horn Attack.

Gyarados had improved on his land maneuvering through he still needed someone to actually teach him how to slither. He also learned Water Pulse from Lucario and self-taught Dragon Rage.

Lucario did not made any improvement, but he helped other pokémon and started to teach Ash interpretation of poke-speech through Aura, it required lot more fines and mental discipline than everything else Ash has learned up to the date. Needless to say that the progress was slow

Arcanine and Umbreon had been tasked to master their Aura sight, and by the end of the two weeks they were quite close to mastering it.

Finally Pidgeotto was trained with movement restrictor, that made it impossible for her to fly for a week and even the second week she could not keep prolonged flight because it exhausted her, but the results were noticeable, with correct diet and physical training the bird pokémon was much bigger than when he caught her coming near to the average size for their species (seriously, Pidgeotto in anime is nearly the size of a Pidgey)

And now it was finally time for Ash to challenge Brock.

"HELLO?" shouted Ash "is the gym open?"

The light switched on in the other corner of the gym "The gym is open." came a stoic voice from the other end "are you a challenger?"

"Yes. The name is Ash Ketchum and I challenge this gym leader" said Ash even though he knows the one talking to him is the gym leader

"I am the gym leader, the name is Brock and I accept your challenge" he said "tell me is this your first gym match?"

"Yes I got my trainer license a bit over two weeks ago" informed Ash

"I must inform you that the gym battle is different from other battle, they have rules sanctioned by the Pokémon League"

"What are the rules of this gym?"

"Both trainer will use two pokémon each, the trainer with two of his Pokémon defeated or forfeits loses the match, the challenger may also change his Pokémon during the battle also there is no time limit. Is that understood?"

"That is acceptable" said Ash taking his place on the white box in front of him "Let's do this"

The lights over the battle field turned on revealing a rocky landscape

"Geodude go" called Brock

"geodude" came the voice from the rock pokémon

Ash scanned Geodude with Pokédex just to keep his appearance and went on with his plan "Go Nidoran"

"Geodude start off with Rock throw"

Geodude started punching the ground making the rock fly towards Nidoran-m

"Nidoran use your newly gained speed to dodge and get close to Geodude, follow it up with Poison Sting"

Nidoran-m avoided all the big rocks and got hit with some small which didn't stop his charge in

"Geodude use Defense Curl and Rock Polish" called Brock wanting to reduce the damage taken

Nidoran-m attack hit the mark and launched Geodude a bit back but didn't do him much damage

"Nidoran once more before he recovers" called ash in hope of poisoning his opponent

The Poison pin pokémon charged in with his barb facing Geodude

"Geodude meet him with a Tackle" called Brock knowing that he would deal more damage than he would receive thanks to Defense Curl

And he was right Nidoran-m was knocked off his feet and launched back near Ash

"Geodude use Rollout"

"Nidoran get up"

"nido"

"All right!" cheered Ash "now jump quick and use Double Kick on your fall"

But the lack of battle experience made so Nidoran-m miscalculated the jump and overshot Geodude avoiding the Rollout but also missing the Double Kick which landed on a rock and kicking a cloud of dust and rubble

"Nidoran are you all right?"

"nido" he nodded

"Climb on that rock and wait for my signal" Knowing that he would have to practice in combat with Nidoran quite more before he got the timing right

"Geodude smash through that rock" called Brock trying to unbalance Nidoran-m and ending this round

"Nidoran now!" called Ash with urgency "Use Double Kick"

Nidoran jumped and flipped in before coming down with his rear legs extended and glowing white hitting his mark the same time Geodude impacted against the rock with the Rollout which reduced his spinning to a stop and he soon fainted

"Geodude return. You did well and now. Go Onix"

The Rock snake pokémon appeared in the field towering Nidoran-m who was scared because of its sheer size compared to his own. So he was quite grateful to be called back when he was returned to his Pokéball

"Nidoran return, you did well. Pikachu it is your turn"

"pika" the said pokémon jumped from Ash shoulder and got on the rocky field on all four sparking from his cheeks showing that he was ready

"Onix start with Tackle"

Onix reared his head and bought it down for Tackle

"Pikachu Agility to dodge and with that extra speed Iron Tail"

When Onix's head was about to Tackle Pikachu he dodged with a burst of speed and before Onix could raise his head completely again Pikachu nailed him with an Iron tail between the eyes causing Onix to roar in pain

'That is some serious speed and power, I cannot let him hit Onix like that again' thought Brock "Onix use Rock Throw on the entire field"

"Pikachu Agility once more do not let any of those rocks hit you" said Ash

With a roar Onix littered the field with big rock since Pikachu was not the target he dodged with ease

'so that is what Brock wanted with all those rocks Pikachu cannot pic up speed, good try but Pikachu can do more that Iron Tail and Agility' planed Ash

"Onix Dig" now that Pikachu was unable to move fast the ground type move had more chance of hitting his target with a super effective ground type move

He burrowed down waiting for his trainer to give the signal for attack

"Pikachu go to the center of the field and Thunder Bolt all those rocks" said Ash undoing what Brock's Onix had done to the field

"Onix now!" seeing Ash was trying to regain his advantage he called Onix to come out and hit Pikachu

"Pikachu use Onix head to propel yourself and use Iron Tail when falling" called Ash seeing Brock had fallen in his trap

"Onix no! Dodge!" yelled Brock looking the trap he had fallen into

But Onix was unable to stop in time; he came from underground directly below Pikachu and had launched the mouse in the air by the time he heard Brock Pikachu had already charged his tail. Pikachu flipped in the air bringing it down with all his might and help of the gravity nailing Onix head once more and knocking out the Rock Snake Pokémon

"Yes! We won Pikachu" celebrated Ash "Nidoran come out"

"nido?" he said tiredly

"we won Nidoran!" said Ash excitedly

"nido nido" he said happily but still exhausted

"Onix return" called Brock "you did your best" Brock approached Ash who was still celebrating the victory "congratulation Ash for your first gym badge, here is your boulder badge"

"Alright!"Posed Ash with Pikachu and Nidoran "now let's go to the Pokémon Center and get you both healed"

"do you mind if I come with you to the Pokémon Center, I also have to get my pokemon healed"

"sure no problem Brock"

"Hey wait for me!" came a female voice from behind

"Misty?"

"Yeah, I watched your match it was good congrats on your first gym badge"

"thanks. I didn't notice you were watching"

"I was upstairs with Brock siblings." she turned to Brock "They were heartbroken when they saw you lose"

"Yeah" Brock sighted "battling is not my call" said Brock as they entered the Pokémon Center "Raising pokémon is what I love, I want to be a Pokémon breeder"

"So why don't you follow your dream, why are you still a gym leader?" asked Ash

"it is not that easy, I have to take care of my younger sibling, my father has gone for training and we haven't heard of him in long time, mom went out to search for him and god knows where she is" explained Brock

"You can go to fulfill your dreams my son" said Flint from behind and he took off his disguise

"dad?"

"I understand that after such a long time you have something to say to your father, I will not…" he was cut off as Brock started telling him all the necessary to take care of children

"Ash, how long are you here?" asked Brock

"Probably till evening, so my pokémon are rested"

"That's good, do you mind if I come with you?" asked Brock

"The more the better" said Ash "what do you think Misty?" he asked her opinion as she would be also coming with them

"I don't mind" said Misty

"Well I will show dad all he needs to know to take care of my brothers and sisters and will meet you today evening. Is that ok wit you guys?"

"Sure I have stuff to do anyway before we leave" said Ash

"See you then"

"Ok"

Ash called his mother and sister telling them how the gym battle went in detail, he sent Arcanine Umbreon and Gyarados to Prof Oak and asked for Butterfree and Pidgeotto, he stocked up for the trip and with everything in order Ash Misty and Brock set towards Mt. Moon

To be Continued…

**1. Umbreon**: Level 55

Quick Attack, Confuse Ray, Assurance, Payback, Hyper Beam, Moon Light, Detect, Shadow Ball, Bite, Areal Ace

**2. Lucario**: Level 80

Aura Sphere, Aura Shield, Close Combat, Extreme Speed, Flash Cannon, Dragon Pulse, Water Pulse, Heal Pulse, Dark Pulse, Bone Rush

**3. Arcanine**: Level 40

Wild Charge, Flare Blitz, Extreme Speed, Flamethrower, Solar beam, Dig, Double Team, Agility, Outrage, Iron Head

**4. Pikachu:** Level 17 (with knowledge of future, he knows all these moves but his current body can't use them yet)

Thunder Bolt, Thunder, Volt Tackle, Electro Ball, Agility, Quick Attack, Thunder Wave, Iron Tail

**5. Gyarados**: Level 24

Trash, Bite, Dragon Dance, Water Pulse, Dragon Rage

**6. Nidoran-m**: Level 14

Horn Attack, Peck, Focus Energy, Double Kick, Poison Sting

**7. Butterfree** Level 12

Tackle, String Shot, Harden, Confusion, Sleep Powder

**8. Pidgeotto** Level 15

Gust, Whirlwind, Tackle, Quick Attack, Sand Attack


	6. Chapter 5

**I Do Not Own Pokémon**

**(AN: THERE IS A POLL FOR 2 POKÉMON IN MY PROFILE. PLEASE VOTE. THE POLL WILL BE OPEN TILL THE NEXT CHAPTER. THIS CHAPTER IS BETAED BY KitsuneDragon)**

Chapter 5

Ash and his friends continued their journey towards Mt. Moon on their way towards Cerulean City for his second gym badge. Memories of this place came rushing back to him, how different and yet same it had been until now.

'Pikachu has not been my starter this time, though he is still the closest to me. The only one to know and share all the future events with me...the Spearow flock did not chase me away from Route 1 this time around, not that they could with my current Pokémon team anyway. Hopefully they won't scare and bully all the Pokémon of Route 1 in future.'

He imagined Spearow and Fearow chummy with other Pokémon, 'Umm… not likely. Another change...Misty is not angry with me which is a relief. She was such a pain to travel with from time to time when her temper got better of her. Oh and let's not forget the Ho-oh feather, the extra three year training, it is incredible how little I knew.'

"AHHHH!" Came a man's scream from somewhere.

"Look over there!" Ash pointed towards a man in a lab coat who was being harassed by a flock of Zubat.

"Pikachu, use Thunderbolt on those Zubat!" Exclaimed Ash "I want to catch one!"

"PIIIIKAAAACHUUUU" The bolt of yellow lightning rocketed through the air and struck the flock of bat Pokemon. This ended up causing most of the Zubat to fly back to the cave and some to faint, but one that caught Ash interest had stayed behind to cover their escape.

"I like that one. He's got a lot of guts to try and keep his friends safe while fighting Pikachu," said Ash bringing a Pokéball out of his pocket. "Go, Pokéball!" The capturing device struck Zubat on the head, converting its body into red energy and sucking it in, before falling to the ground. After a few violent twitches the Pokéball made the noise of a successful capture.

"Yes, we caught a Zubat!"

"Pi Pikachu!"

"Zubat: The Bat Pokémon. This blind pokémon constantly emits ultrasonic waves that make them capable of flying safely in dark places. Because of this they have adapted to dark environments and are irritated by bright daylight."

"Moves: Leech life, Supersonic, Astonish, Steel Wing, Brave Bird, Bite."

"I caught one too," said Brock as he caught one of the fainted ones.

"Are you ok?" Ash asked the man.

"Wow, you guys are the greatest!" He said crushing/hugging Ash and crying anime tears.

"Really, it was nothing," came the muffled voice of Ash as his face was shoved into the young man's chest.

"I am talking about superfantabulistic, I am talking about two thumbs up..." he continued to crush/hug Ash as his rambling also continued.

Seeing Pikachu's temper coming to its climax, emitting sparks from the electric pouches in its cheeks, Ash forcefully separated himself from the hug because he didn't wanted to be fried by a Thunderbolt.

"Hey! Are you trying to asphyxiate me or something mister?!" Yelled Ash.

"Never call me mister! My name is Seymour! Seymour the Scientist..." began the newly introduced Seymour.

"Knowledge...Research...I am Seymour the Scientist!" He ended with a pose, giving a thumbs up and his teeth unknowingly sparkling through unknown means. Meanwhile, Ash, Misty, Brock and Pikachu stared at him with a sweat drop and decided to go in the cave leaving him behind, but he followed,

"See how the cave is all lit up inside, somebody has strung these light through whole cave, but Pokémon in this cave need the dark. This light is upsetting them and making them confused," said Seymour in a sad tone.

"Which is probably why the Zubat left the cave and attacked you," said Brock.

"Look there, these Paras are planting their mushroom everywhere," he pointed a bunch of Paras. "And the hot lights are drying up these Sandshrew." This made Ash stop.

"Seymour, how long have the lights been here?" Ash asked.

"Since this morning," he said.

"That's strange," murmured Ash.

"What's strange?" Asked Brock.

"That," said Ash, pointing at a ill-looking Sandshrew. "I know that Seymour here said that it was because of light, but I know of Sandshrew living in hot bright deserts and surviving without water for a year or more, in fact from what I have learned, Sandshrew don't drink water directly if they can avoid it, but absorb it from the soil."

"Are you sure?" asked Brock.

"That's what the book said," affirmed Ash.

"So what do you think it is?" Asked Brock with a concerned look.

"I am no doctor..." said Ash "...but I think you should catch it and have him checked up in Cerulean City Pokémon Center."

Not coming up with a better idea the Pewter City gym leader shrugged. "Why not?" Brock neared the thirsty looking Sandshrew. "Hey little guy, want to come with me? I will get you checked by a doctor and see what your problem is."

"Sand… shrew… Sand… shrew…" The Pokémon weakly nodded.

"Ok Sandshrew, hold on. I will get you checked up tomorrow when we reach Cerulean City," promised Brock.

"What about Paras?" Asked Misty, pointing at the Mushroom Pokémon that were planting their mushroom on the soil.

"Oh, they are just confused thinking that the light of the lamps is daylight," Ash said without interest.

"Like the Zubat." She nodded in understanding.

"It's different actually," explained Ash. "The Zubat were not really confused. It's just that wild Zubat flock and throw a temper tantrum when disturbed from their beauty sleep."

"But Seymour said that they were confused," she growled out, starting a bit of her temper. "And HE is a scientist," she ended her argumentative statement on that note as if that explained all.

"Nope." Ash shook is head in disagreement. "Didn't you see that they were too organized to really be confused? When Pikachu hit them with Thunderbolt, they flew back into the cave," countered Ash. "Why did they do that? Why not anywhere else if they were confused? Or attack anyone else? There are Pokémon in the cave. The fact is that they were disturbed and the first human they found was Seymour, the Zubat thought he was the one to blame and attacked him. Simple as that," said Ash in a matter of fact tone.

"Wow...you know a lot about Pokémon. I have to admit in truth I am a geologist, my studies are based on liquids and solids that makes this world and the history they have," he said. "I just thought they were confused, but what Ash said seems more likely given the evidence."

"I made it my duty to learn about them because I want to become a Pokémon Master. I cannot be one being ignorant," explained Ash.

"Who put on these lights any way?" Asked Misty.

"I am afraid that a bunch of troublemakers attacked the cave looking for the Moon Stone."

"The Moon Stone?" Asked Misty.

"Exactly!" Nodded Seymour. Suddenly, the young geologist broke into a poem for no apparent reason. Ash, Misty, Brock and Pikachu watched, blinking in confusion, their heads tilted, as they watched the young man do the dramatic oral piece.

"The Moon Stone is an awesome boulder,

A million years old if not even older.

Deep in these caves the meteor hides

Thou no explorer has found the place

Of the legendary rock from space

We have studied its fragments for many end hours

And discovered it increases the Pokémon's powers

That's why the attackers are here

They come to take the moon stone, or so I fear."

Seymour ended with a bow. Deciding to be polite, Pikachu gave a small round of applause, literally and and figuratively.

"The Moon Stone?" Misty asked again.

"Ever since I was a little boy, I believed that the Pokémon came to this world from outer space."

"From outer space?" Asked Brock and Misty, though Ash knew that the legends said otherwise. He let the man think his beliefs are true, he doubted that he could convince him otherwise anyway.

"Yes!" He nodded. "And where do you ask is the spacecraft that bought them to earth? In this cave; it's the Moon Stone!"

"It sure is an original theory," said Misty.

"Well, I always thought that the Moon Stone was only an evolution stone," said Ash. "You know, like a Water Stone or a Thunder Stone"

"Oh they act in that manner as well," said Seymour.

"But don't you see, the Moon Stones belong to the Pokémon. We humans must not take it from them!" Said Seymour passionately.

"But what if someone wants to evolve their Pokémon?"

"Small fragments are more than enough for it. You do not need the entire Moon Stone," said Seymour. "A piece the size your thumb nail is enough to start the evolution, unless you are doing a premature evolution, in which case you need a bigger piece."

"Clefairy Clefairy Clefairy!" A pink pokémon that looked like a rather fat looking fairy, went skipping by the group.

"That looks like a Clefairy," said Brock. Ash checked it out with the Pokédex, said Pokemon encyclopedia giving Ash the information of the little Normal-type.

"It is so cute!" Squeaked Misty. "I'm going to catch it!"

"You can't!" Stopped Seymour.

"Why can't I?" Asked an angry Misty.

"Sorry, but it is best if you just let it stay here. I hope you understand," said Seymour and Misty reluctantly nodded.

"That was strange," said Ash.

"What was strange this time?" Asked Misty.

"Clefairy are one of the few pokémon that evolve when they come in contact with a Moon Stone. Yet that Clefairy was carrying one and didn't evolve."

"CLEFAAAAAIIIRRRRYYYY!" Came a terrified cry from within the caves that Clefairy had just gone. Ash and his friends, and Seymour rushed to see what had happened to the Normal-type Pokemon.

"Don't be scared of Meowth," said the Team Rocket's Meowth.

"Look it's Meowth," said Ash. "That means that Team Racket is here or was it Pocket? Hmmm Rocker maybe? I remember its Team Socket," Ash said as he planted his fist into his palm in realization.

"THAT'S IT!" Came Jessie's shout from the tunnel behind Meowth. "I AM GOING TO KILL THAT TWERP! NO ONE MOCKS TEAM ROCKET!" The magenta haired Rocket member took out a Pokeball from her pocket. "Go Ekans and show those twerps to respect the name of Team Rocket"

"But Jessie," whined James, "what about our sacred motto?" Jessie paused in her act to toss her Pokeball before nodding.

"Right," said Jessie, " Don't worry, Ekans..." she patted her Poke Ball affectionately, "...soon you show them not to mock Team Rocker, I mean Rocket."

"To protect the world from devastation...

...to unite all people within our nation.

To denounce the evils of truth and love...

...To extend our reach to the stars above.

Jessie!

James!

Team Rocket blast off at the speed of light...

...surrender now or prepare to fight.

MEEEEEEEEEEOWTH, THAT'S RIGHT!"

"That's their sacred motto?"

"Yup they are off the rocker right?" Ash said as he shook his head in exasperation.

"Misty, you and Seymour go with Clefairy and protect her in case, we will cover you!" Brock exclaimed.

"Ok" she nodded "come on lets go" she said Seymour and Clefairy

"Ekans...get them!" Jessie tossed out the Snake Pokemon.

"Koffing, attack!" James ordered as he sent out the purple Poison-type.

"Go, Butterfree and Zubat!" Ordered Ash.

"You too, Zubat!" Brock tossed out the Bat Pokemon.

"Koffing, Smog attack!" Ordered James.

"Ekans, wrap that bug!"

"Butterfree, use Whirlwind to blow back that Smog. Zubat, use Astonish on Ekans!" Countered Ash.

"Zubat, use Double Team!" Ordered Brock.

Butterfree flapped his wings to blow that smoke on Team Rocket and Zubat intercepted Ekans with Astonish making him flinch. Brock's Zubat failed to do Double Team because of the Smog disturbing the fragile after image.

"Ekans use Bite!"

"Koffing, Tackle!"

"Butterfree use Stun Spore and Zubat, Steel Wing!"

Ekans suddenly appeared out of smoke, but instead of biting Butterfree as he intended to do, he was smacked down to the ground courtesy of Zubat's Steel Wing and was paralyzed with the Stun Spore powder that fell on him, but Brock's Zubat was caught off guard as Koffing raced forth and struck the Bug/Flying-type.

"Zubat, hang on," said Brock, worried for his new Zubat. "Use Supersonic!"

Zubat then released a high pitch sonic wave from its mouth that raced towards both Poison-types and effectively hit them. As a result, both Pokémon became confused. The Snake and Poison Gas Pokemon began to attack each other, bashing each other against the rocky walls of the cave, even hurting themselves sometimes.

"Attack THEM, Ekans, not Koffing you stupid snake!" Yelled Jessie.

"Koffing what's the matter with you, weakling," said James.

While this was happening, Meowth tried to sneak away from the battle, but Ash saw him. The black haired boy's eyes narrowed at the pre-evolution of Persian.

"Oh no you don't, Zubat use Brave Bird on Meowth and send him to Team Rocket; Butterfree use Whirlwind to blow them out of the cave!"

Zubat flew up into the sky to gain some distance and then dove towards the feline Pokemon. Zubat's body burst into red and orange flames before the flames became a bright blue form of energy. The attack struck Meowth harshly, sending a KO-ed Meowth to Jessie and James, effectively defeating them.

"FREEEEEE!" Exclaimed Butterfree in effort and sent them away with a strong Whirlwind attack.

"Team Rocket is blasting off again!" Yelled James.

"You may have won this round, but we will be back!" Yelled Jessie.

A tiny 'PING' was heard as the sky twinkled where the trio was sent flying away. Ash and Brock nodded to one another before returning their Pokemon to their balls.

"Let's go and see if Misty needs help," suggested Ash before he and Brock raced off in search of their tomboy-ish female friend.

* * *

_Scene Change_

"Clefairy, don't go too fast," said a concerned Misty.

Clefairy was skipping and jumping up a steep, rocky incline when a rock on which she rested her feet came loose and crumbled.

"CLEFAIRYYY!" She screamed as she tumbled down through the air towards a crevice. The Pokemon fell towards the solid ground and Misty knew if Clefairy were to hit the ground, it wouldn't exactly feel like a feather pillow.

"No, Clefairy!" Misty jumped behind her and caught her, twisting in midair as she used her body to soften Clefairy's fall. Luckily there was a river right below them and neither were hurt because of water

"Clefairy?" Came the questioning tone from the Pokémon and Misty understood what she was asking.

"You are too cute to get hurt like that," said Misty hugging the Pokémon. "Pity I can't take you with me on our travels."

"HEY!"

Misty and Clefiary gasped in surprise when they saw the ten year old resident of Pallet Town appear alongside the Rock-type Pokemon specialist. Ash and Brock waved their arms to draw their attention from their spot on the other side of the river. "ARE YOU GUYS ALRIGHT?!

"YEAH, WE ARE FINE!" Misty replied.

* * *

Later that night, Ash, Brock and Misty got a rare privilege to see Clefairy worship the Moon Stone and Ash decided to record it with his Poké-Nav and send it later to Professor Oak, but Team Rocket just had to butt in.

"Thank you twerps for leading us to the Moon Stone and now stand aside so we can claim it as ours," said Jessie arrogantly.

Ash knew what was going to happen and didn't want the Moon Stone blown to pieces so he decided to call on the big guns. "Lucario, help me out!" Said Ash as he tossed Lucario's Poké Ball.

'What can I assist you with?' He asked telepathically through the aura based link he and Ash shared.

"What Pokémon is that?" Asked Brock and Misty.

"It's Lucario, an old friend of mine," stated Ash. "I have no time for explanations. Let's go, Lucario!"

"I don't know what Pokémon that is, but I am sure it's rare. The Boss likes rare Pokémon," said Meowth greedily.

"Enough of the chitchat! Lucario use Aura Sphere and send them flying!" Ash commanded, getting tiered of Team Rocket's persistence.

Lucario nodded and held up a paw. The aura coursed through its body and pooled into a glowing blue spheroid of aura. The Aura Sphere then launched itself at the trio. It was so fast that Team Rocket didn't even have time to register the incoming threat before they were blasted off leaving Brock, Misty, Seymour and Pikachu amazed at the amount of power and skill the red eyed Pokemon possessed.

"That's one hell of a Pokémon," said Brock.

"Yeah," said Misty before turning to the young trainer. "Why didn't you use him in the gym match against Brock?"

"Well, no offense, Brock, but Lucario would have wiped the floor with Geodude and Onix and so I wanted to have a bit of a challenge," Ash said, scratching his cheek in embarrassment behind his reasoning.

"None taken," said Brock, seeing just how strong Lucario was.

"And I also wanted Nidoran and Pikachu to have battle practice," added Ash.

After the small disruption the Clefairy continued their ritual and at exactly midnight the big Moon Stone began to glow Blue and some Clefairy evolved into Clefable. Happy with the success, the Clefairy family continued to celebrate, but Ash and his friends excused themselves to sleep since they had things to do the next day.

* * *

The next day, early in the morning, Ash, Misty and Brock came out on Route 4. Ash had been given a piece of Moon Stone enough for 3 or 4 uses by the leader Clefable as a thanks for the protection of the very stone. Misty had a new pokémon in her team, a Clefable that evolved from Clefairy she saved and befriended in their short adventure. Brock was just in hurry to get the Sandshrew checked up by the Cerulean City Pokémon Center...or was it to see Nurse Joy? Maybe a bit of both was the most probable answer.

After entering the city Misty separated herself from the rest of the group and went to search for the bike shop. Meanwhile, Ash and Brock were heading towards the Cerulean City Gym and Pokémon Center respectively, when they found a big crowd in middle of the road.

"Hey Brock, look at that!" Said Ash pointing the crowd.

"Let's go and see what's going on," said Brock.

"Brock, your priority is to go to the Pokémon Center and get that Sandshrew checked. I have to find the Cerulean Gym," said Ash not wanting to waste his time in watching whatever it was that brought the crowd into formation. Brock frowned a bit as his curious side told him to go to the crowd, but he forced the thoughts into the back of his head before nodding.

"Yes, you are right. Let's go."

Brock and Ash had separated on the road. After a few hours of aimlessly walking around, Ash was at Cerulean Gym where a flood of people were entering the gym. The young trainer raised an eyebrow in confusion.

'No way these many people are here for a gym battle. Something else must be up.' It was times like this Ash was glad for his small stature as he easily ducked and weaved through the crowd and pushed his way through the entrance. Once he entered the gym, he navigated through the building's rather extensive hallways. He then decided to play a game of 'What's Behind This Door?'.

"And behind Door Number 1 is..." Ash raised his hand and knocked.

A young blue haired girl who looked to be about sixteen years old, opened the door.

"Like, yes?" Ash blinked in confusion at the blue haired girl's rather stereotypical teenage girl answer. Shaking his head as he got his bearings together, he spoke.

"Hello, where can I find the Gym leader?" Ash asked.

"Like, who is it, Violet?" Asked another female voice from within the room behind the door.

"He seems to be a challenger," said Violet. The sound of two pairs of footsteps followed after Violet's answer. Soon two more girls were now standing behind Violet. One had short red hair and the other had long golden locks. Both had the same light skin tone as their blue haired friend and Ash wondered if they were related because they sounded exactly the same and had the same facial structure.

"Can please tell me where I can find the gym leader?" Asked Ash.

"You are looking at them," said Daisy, the blonde one. "The three of us are the Gym leaders here. I'm Daisy and these are my sisters Violet and Lily," Daisy gestured to the blue haired girl and then the red haired one.

"Well then, I challenge you three to a gym battle," said Ash.

"Well sorry, but it's just that, like, we have a show in fifteen minutes and our Pokémon are at the Pokémon Center."

"Oh man, now how do I get the gym badge?" Asked Ash with a frown.

"I know!" Exclaimed Daisy, snapping her fingers as a lightbulb went off in her head. "Meet us after the show!"

"Alright," nodded Ash.

"Well Pikachu, let's go" said Ash.

"Pika," The Electric Mouse Pokemon replied with a nod and they went to see the show. After watching the three girls play the parts of two pirates and a mermaid princess with various Water-type Pokemon, a show that Pikachu had found to be rather enjoyable, the two then went to meet the three sisters.

"Pikachu, if I wanted to use you in this gym match, will you fight this time?" Asked Ash. After thinking for a minute, Pikachu nodded.

"Pika!"

"It's good to know that I can count on you, buddy..." However, before Ash could continue speaking, Pikachu interrupted him.

"Pika Pika Pikachu Chu Chu Pikachu Kachu." Pikachu said with exaggerated hand motions.

"Use Pidgeotto and Butterfree like last time? Why?"

"Pika Ka Chu Chu Pikachu."

"Hmmm, you got a point there. Messing with elements of a timeline isn't necessarily a good thing, so I'll go with your idea then. I'll stick with Butterfree and Pidgeotto." Pikachu gave a smirk at his trainer before hopping atop Ash's shoulder.

* * *

"Well, I am here to challenge you three...or at least one of you," said Ash.

"We don't feel much like battling anymore," said Daisy, waving her hand lazily in a 'shoo shoo' manner.

"What do you mean?" Asked Ash with an annoyed expression. "You said for me to meet with you girls after your show."

"Yeah, we just got beaten three times in a row and had to rush our Pokémon to the Pokémon Center and only have this Goldeen right now." Lily said as she popped open a Poke Ball. The red and white fish of a Pokemon flopped on the floor in a rather useless manner. "It's only known attack is **Splash** so we can't really fight with it."

"I know what you want," said Daisy. "Seel!" She called her Pokémon.

"Hey, that's another Pokémon! Why don't you use that?!" Ash exclaimed.

"Yeah, but Seel here is like, a performer and very young," said Violet.

"Here," Daisy presented Ash with the badge, "This is what you want, so take it."

"No thanks, I would rather earn my badge." said Ash.

"It's just a badge, take it," said Daisy.

"It's not just a badge. It is a proof of achievement," said Ash passionately. "I and my Pokémon train daily to become stronger, and taking that badge without a battle is like an insult to all our efforts."

"If that is how it is Ash Ketchum, I, the fourth sensational sister accept your challenge," said Misty.

"It's three sensational sisters and a runt," said Lily making Misty angry.

"So little sister, it's a surprise to see you back so soon," said Daisy.

"That little girl with a big mouth that said that she wouldn't come back till she was great Pokémon trainer," said Violet. "Wasn't that you?"

"I said that and I mean it!" Declared Misty.

"Misty you left here pretending that you want to become a Pokémon trainer, because you couldn't compare with us, because we are obviously much more talented and beautiful than you are," said Lily.

"Well then, I guess you came back because you couldn't make it as a Pokémon trainer, am I right?" Daisy guessed with a raised eyebrow.

"I was just passing by because my bike got broken and had to get it repaired," defended Misty. "I thought I should say "Hi" to my sisters and watch my friend's battle while I am here, but I suppose I was wrong to think that way! You just give out badges without even a battle!"

"So he is your boyfriend?" Asked Daisy. "Like, not bad."

Misty blushed heavily as her three sisters gave a nod of approval in Ash's direction.

"HE'S NOT MY..."

"I am sorry to disappoint you," Ash interrupted the raging red head."...but I have to say I have my eyes set on someone else," said Ash. "But thank you for the compliment...umm, anyways are we going to battle?"

"Well Misty is the only one with Pokémon that can actually battle," said Daisy

"What are the rules?" asked Ash

"It will be two on two battles, the one who loses both of his or her Pokémon or forfeits, loses the match. As a challenger, you may change your Pokémon during the battle," said Misty.

"You got it!"Ash said confidently.

Daisy took the place as the referee, holding up a red flag in her right hand to represent Misty's side of the field and a green flag in her left was Ash's. "This will be a battle between Ash Ketchum from Pallet town and Misty the Cerulean City gym leader. Let the battle begin!" She swung the flags downwards.

"Butterfree, I chose you!"

"Well in that case, I call Staryu!"

"Well I guess the first move is mine. Butterfree use Supersonic!"

"Staryu, dodge by jumping in the water!"

Butterfree aimed Supersonic at Staryu who jumped in water to dodge, a small splash of water forming as the star shaped Pokemon did so.

"Staryu, use Water Gun!"

"Butterfree dodge and use String Shot!"

Staryu broke the surface of the water and aimed its point at the Bug/Flying-type. The Water-type started to shoot jet after jet of water, each of which missed Butterfree thanks to his training. Butterfree then performed a barrel roll to avoid another blast of pressurized water before its compound eyes managed to spot an opening. Taking the chance, Butterfree shot a thread from his mouth which nailed and covered Staryu's center with a white sticky substance.

"Now Butterfree fly up and use Poison Powder!" The young trainer ordered.

"Staryu try to get free!" Panicked Misty as she saw her struggling Pokemon.

Butterfree took flight and because of the String Shot still being attached to his mouth, Staryu was suspended in the air unable to do much and took the entire effect of Poison Powder. Staryu then began to shudder and shake as the poison affected its body.

"Now throw Staryu up and finish it with a Tackle attack!" Butterfree spun rapidly before using the momentum to hurl Staryu upwards. Staryu spun through the air and then began to fall, however gravity's effect was halted as Butterfree took off at a high speed and slammed into Staryu's gem at full force. Staryu crashed into the wall, the gem in its centre blinking to show it had fainted.

"Staryu return!" Exclaimed Misty as she took out her Poke Ball. Staryu turned into a red beam of energy before returning to the capturing device.

"I choose you, Starmie!" Misty tossed out her second Poke Ball. The purple star-shaped Pokemon and Staryu's evolution, emerged from the ball in a flash of light.

"Butterfree return, you did well. I chose you Pidgeotto," said Ash.

"Starmie, get underwater and use Rapid Spin," said Misty.

"Pidgeotto blow it away with Gust!" countered Ash.

Starmie jumped into the water and began to rotate at high speeds. A small whirlpool burst out of the pool and headed straight for the evolved form of Pidgey, but Pidgeotto's speed was greater and it dodged the liquid vortex. However, when the water vortex vanished, Starmie emerged from the tip and spun through the air, heading for Pidgeotto. However, the Bird Pokemon countered by flapping his wings heavily and a powerful twister formed and slammed into Starmie'so own rotating body. Pidgeotto's Gust proved to be too much for the Water-type and Misty watched as her Pokemon ended up smacking into the wall.

"Pidgeotto finish it with Agility and Wing Attack!"

"Oh no, Starmie dodge!" Shouted Misty.

Starmie tried to get back into water, but Pidgeotto was too fast due to Agility and a Wing Attack with extra momentum gained from its high speed movement hit Starmie knocking it out.

"Starmie is unable to battle, the winner of this match is Ash from the town of Pallet," said Daisy.

"Yes! We won!" Celebrated Ash. Butterfree emerged from his ball to join the celebrations.

"FREEE FREEE!"

"PI PIKACHU!"

"PIDGEOTTO!" They cheered.

"Like, well done Ash. Here is your badge," said Daisy.

"Yes, we got the Cascade Badge!" Ash did a dramatic pose with Pikachu, Butterfree and Pidgeotto before he attached it to his jacket.

(AN: yeah I know the battle is a bit lame but it is on purpose so don't flame it yet)

Misty's mood was down because of such a devastating defeat. She wanted to be happy for Ash, to congratulate him and to tell him to not to get too cocky because she will win the next time, but other words came out of her mouth.

"How did you do it?" asked Misty

"Do what?" Asked Ash confused.

"How did your Pokémon get so strong so fast?" Blurted Misty. It was like she was having an out-of-body experience. She didn't want to say these words, but it seemed as if she were watching a movie and her character just kept saying things without her control. "I've had Staryu and Starmie for years and you defeated them so easily with Pokémon that were so weak when you caught them only a few weeks ago."

Ash didn't know what to say to that as his mind began to process what Misty had just said. After a minute of tense silence, he spoke. His dark eyes staring into her blue-green ones quite intently.

"I won because you did many mistakes, not only in this match, but in general. You say that you have much more experience with Staryu and Starmie and as a trainer in general, then you should know that Staryu and Starmie are better using special attacks than attacks, but you still used attacks like Tackle an Rapid Spin. They are faster in water than on land, yet your pokémon were mostly on the platform. They can lean Ice-type moves and Starmie can also learn Electric-type moves, even Psychic-type ones, but you didn't teach them any...and most importantly, that they need daily training to grow stronger. I had yet to see you train your Pokémon in the time we have traveled together. I wake up early in the morning and train my Pokémon for three hours every morning before breakfast while you are still sleeping, I take into account all my Pokémon's strengths and weakness and create strategies that will result in countering them, that is, not only type, but also others like terrain…"

BOOM!

"Sorry to break in on you, ladies...and twerp," said Jessie.

"But we are here for your Pokemon," said James.

"Like...who are you?!" Daisy, Lily and Violet exclaimed in confusion.

"To protect the world from devastation...

...to unite all people within our nation.

To denounce the evils of truth and love...

...To extend our reach to the stars above.

Jessie!

James!

Team Rocket blast off at the speed of light...

...surrender now or prepare to fight.

MEEEEEEEEEEOWTH, THAT'S RIGHT!"

"The Water Pokémon have the advantage with this pool here," said James with a smirk.

"But if we steal that water away..." added Meowth.

"The Pokémon are ours for the taking," said Jessie with a sly smirk.

"And Meowth knows just how to do it," said the feline Pokemon with glee.

"Ugh, you guys again," said a bored Ash. "Pikachu just Thunderbolt them away before they cause more damage to the gym."

"PIKACHUUUUU!"

Pikachu launched a powerful bolt of electricity that caused the vacuum pump to explode. The resulting explosion sent Team Rocket soaring off into the heavens.

"That's not fair, we didn't even got to use that machine!" Cried James.

"Yeah, and all the effort we put into stealing it!" Sobbed Meowth.

"Team Rocket is blasting off again!" The trio exclaimed before vanishing as a twinkle in the sky.

"Well it looks like we have to get the walls of the gym fixed," sighed Daisy. "Thank goodness we have insurance for the gym."

"Yeah..well...I better go and find Brock so we can leave towards Vermilion City," said Ash as he left the gym.

"Wait for me Ash, I too want to go to the Vermilion City!" Yelled Misty.

After Ash returned Pidgeotto and Butterfree to their balls and Misty got her things ready, they then exited the gym and headed down the road to go look for Brock. Pikachu sat atop Ash's head, taking a light snooze. A bit of silence passed between the two trainers before Ash decided to break it.

"So Misty, what are you going to do now?" Asked Ash.

"I am going to travel with you guys and train of course," said Misty. "I want to become a great Water Pokémon trainer before I take the place of Cerulean City gym leader."

Ash said nothing, he just smiled. He had managed to improve Misty's behavior. That smile then grew as he realized the next set of events that would occur in the near future. Soon Bulbasaur, Charmander and Squirtle and more of his original Pokémon and hopefully some new ones, would join his team. He couldn't wait for it.

"Then let's find Brock," said Ash and started running towards Pokémon Center, Misty trailing behind him.

* * *

"Hey Brock, what's up?" Asked Ash as he and Misty spotted the squinty eyed gym leader upon entering the Pokemon Centre.

"It's Sandshrew," said Brock with a frown. "Apparently he has one of his lungs completely blocked and will have to stay here for at least a few weeks in order to remove the blockage and to be completely healed."

"Woah, that sounds pretty bad," said Ash as he thought of the consequences of the delay.

'W_e may not reach in time for the SS ANNE and Charmander might die,_' he thought. '_I have to come up with a way to go ahead. I cannot let Charmander die or those thieves on SS ANNE be successful.'_

"Well, we can train here. We can also use my gym to train Water Pokémon," suggested Misty.

"Well yes, I would have liked to train as well, but… I umm… have got a job to do for Professor Oak, yeah that's it. There is a sick Dragonite with an illness that has not been seen in long time and the Pokémon Centers are not equipped to take care of it so I have to go to Bill's light house and catch it and send it to Professor Oak." Ash came up with the lie on the fly not knowing how right he was.

"We will meet in Vermilion City." He said with a nod.

"Why didn't you tell us before?" Asked Misty.

"I forgot," said Ash sheepishly.

"Well, we guess if Professor Oak said then it must be really important," said Brock.

"Yeah we will meet you at Vermilion City, you go and help that poor Dragonite" said Misty

"I will leave as soon as I switch some Pokémon," said Ash. The young trainer went to the video phone and dialed for the old researcher. After a few rings, the image of the Professor appeared on the screen.

"Hello Professor Oak."

"Oh hello Ash, how is your journey going?" asked Oak.

"It's going well. I just got my second badge," Ash informed. "Professor, I called you because I need a favor from you. Can you raise my limit to eight Pokémon till I reach Vermilion City?"

"You know that I cannot increment limits of Pokémon for a rookie trainer."

"But Professor, you know I am not that new as the official documents say, and you also know I wouldn't ask if it was unnecessary."

"So why do you need the extra two Pokémon permission?"

"I don't know, but I have a feeling I will need it. Please Professor, just until I reach Vermilion City." Ash pleaded. The old researcher frowned deeply in thought, tapping his chin as he did so. He then glanced at Ash and sighed in defeat.

"Ok, I will expand your permit. So you want to carry eight your pokémon?"

"No, actually I will be carrying only four; I will send you Butterfree, Nidoran and Zubat in exchange for Arcanine." Ash placed his Pokemon on the transporter as Oak did the same for Arcanine's Poke Ball. The Poke Balls then disappeared in flashes of white light as they were teleported.

"Ash, one of these days you will have to tell me why you keep making all these strange requests," said Oak. Ash remained silent at that and an uncomfortable silence reigned between trainer and professor. The silence was then replaced with a few beeping sounds. "Your Pokémon have reached here safely."

"And I got Arcanine," said Ash as he grabbed the Fire-type's Poke Ball from its place on the transporter.

"In two hours you will be authorized to carry 8 Pokémon, but it will only be for two weeks."

"That's perfect, Professor. Thanks." Oak nodded at Ash.

"Well Ash if that's all..."

"Yeah, thanks Professor. Bye!" And the screen went off. Ash placed the receiver down on its holder before tossing the Poke Ball in his hand.

"Come on out, Arcanine!"

"ARR!" Growled Arcanine as he stood tall and proud.

"Hey buddy, how are you?"

"Arcanine!" He barked and licked Ash's face. Ash chuckled before Arcanine and Pikachu gave each other paw-fives in greeting.

"Pika!"

"Arc!"

The young trainer then watched as the Electric Mouse and Legendary Pokemon converse before he led said Legendary Pokemon outside.

"We have lot to do this week so can you give me a lift?" The Fire-type nodded in response before sitting down so Ash could climb atop its back. A gasp was then heard as the two Pokemon and their trainer looked to see Brock and Misty watching Arcanine with shocked expressions on their faces.

"Ash...is that your Pokémon?" Asked Brock.

"Yeah. I switched some of my Pokémon in case things went out of control with the Dragonite."

"He is in excellent condition," praised Brock as he looked over the orange and black furred Pokemon. Arcanine stood up a bit straighter at the compliment, his ego inflating.

"Thanks, I have trained him for nearly 3 years," said Ash scratching Arcanine behind his ears.

"Arr," growled the Pokémon in content.

"Well guys, you have my Poké-Nav number so if you need help or anything just call me," He said while gripping Arcanine's mane. He then tapped his heels lightly against Arcanine's sides.

"Let's go, Arcanine," said Ash, and Arcanine took off running.

"We will have our first stop at AJ and probably stay there for tonight, I want to teach Pidgeotto Aerial Ace," Ash informed Arcanine. After a few minutes of running, Ash, Arcanine and Pikachu came across the dojo arena where the young trainer known as AJ, trained.

"Are you AJ?" Ash asked as he spotted a young green haired trainer.

"Yes, that's me. Are you my next victim?"

"Cocky aren't you? I was just passing by when someone said that you were a good challenge, so I came to see it for myself," said Ash.

"Very well." AJ quickly accepted. "It will be three on three battle, you will be my 97th victory."

"Say that after battle."

"Go, Sandshrew!"

"If you choose a ground type I will go with an electric type. I choose you Pikachu!"

"Now who is the cocky one?" AJ asked rhetorically. "Sandshrew start with **Dig!**"

Sandshrew quickly dug a hole into the ground and began tunneling underground.

"Pikachu place your ears on ground and try to sense Sandshrew and dodge!"

Pikachu, thanks to all his future knowledge and experience, dodged Sandshrew with ease by jumping aside.

"Now Quick Attack!"

As soon as his feet touched the ground, Pikachu launched himself forth, leaving a streak of white and rammed into an unprepared Sandshrew.

"Sandshrew counter with Slash attack!"

"Quick Pikachu counter Slash with Iron Tail!"

Pikachu's tail glowed like silver and swung the tail. The Iron Tail and Slash attacks clashed epically, forming a small shockwave. However, Pikachu was only able to block one hand the other one slashed Pikachu's back making him cry in pain and threw Pikachu away.

"Pikachu are you alright?"

"Pika." Pikachu nodded firmly.

"Ok, use Agility to build up speed!"

"Sandshrew, counter it with Rollout!"

As Pikachu was trying to gain speed, Sandshrew was trying to nail Pikachu with Rollout.

"Pikachu continue to gain speed till you reach your peak!"

"Sandshrew, don't let him!"

"Now Pikachu use Iron tail full speed and bat that ball away!"

"Sandshrew dodge!"

However, with the momentum Sandshrew had built from his Rollout, he couldn't dodge Pikachu and the resulting impact of Agility, Iron Tail and Sandshrew's own Rollout dealt Sandshrew massive damage.

AJ seeing that Sandshrew was in his last leg called his strongest attack, "Sandshrew drill into the ground till it splits! FISSURE!"

"Pikachu, that's Fissure attack, it moves in only one line so it is easy to dodge. Just jump aside and use Quick Attack on Sandshrew!"

Sandshrew was too tired to dodge so he took the attack head on and fainted.

"Sandshrew return, we need to train more." said AJ. "Butterfree go!"

"Start off with Sleep Powder and spread it widely!"

Butterfree flapped her wings and sent Sleep Powder all over the field.

"Dodge by getting in those holes that Sandshrew dug!"

Pikachu avoided the sparkling powder by getting in the hole

"Use **Confusion** to bring him out and slam him on the ground!"

"Pikachu hit her with **Thunderbolt**!"

Butterfree did bring him out of the hole, but was unable to hurl him to ground because **Thunderbolt** hit its mark making Butterfree cry in pain. The super effective move dealt a critical hit to Butterfree's form and it fell to the ground, smoking. However, Ash stared in amazement alongside Pikachu and Butterfree struggled and finally regained its bearings, floating lightly in the air.

Seeing that one hit was all it was going to take to bring Butterfree down, "**Thunderbolt** once more!"

"Dodge it!" Butterfree closely dodged the attack by performing a barrel roll.

"Butterfree, use **Supersonic**!" Ordered AJ in hopes of confusing Pikachu and causing status related damage.

"Pikachu, use **Quick Attack** to get away!"

Pikachu did dodge it through he was getting tired, panting in exhaustion from constantly having to enjoy Butterfree's follow-up Confusion attacks.

"**Gust**, followed by **Bug Bite**!" AJ demanded.

"Take **Gust** head on and finish it with **Thunderbolt**, full power!"

**Gust** threw Pikachu in the air where Pikachu recovered before Butterfree could bite him and threw a **Thunderbolt** to an approaching Butterfree.

"FREEE!" She cried in pain before she fainted.

"It seems I still have to train you more in endurance," AJ bought his third Pokéball out. "Go, Raticate!"

"Raticate!" Announced the Mouse Pokémon as he came out.

"Pikachu, let's see if you can do Volt Tackle again."

AJ didn't know what attack Volt Tackle was, but he didn't like the sound of it. "Raticate whatever it is, dodge it!"

"Pika Pika Pika Pika!"

Pikachu started to run, building up speed. The white streak of a Quick Attack appeared, but then it became golden as trails of golden electrical charge began to bleed off of the Electric Mouse Pokemon. In a bright flash, electricity engulfed Pikachu as it neared Raticate. AJ and Raticate were wide eyed as they saw the powerful Electric-type move and were unable to react in any sort of way. However, it didn't last and Pikachu ended up tripping, its underdeveloped body not used to handling the amount of power that a Volt Tackle generated. Pikachu skidded on the ground and stopped a mere few feet away from Raticate.

AJ and Raticate stared at the panting Electric-type, still unable to get over their earlier shock at seeing the amazing move that Pikachu performed.

"PIKACHU!" The yell of Ash snapped both opponents out of their stupor. AJ then focused on the battle once more.

"Raticate, now is our chance! Use Super Fang!"

And the fallen Pikachu could not escape the Super Fang as the close proximity denied it the ability to dodge in time. Fangs bit into Pikachu's body before Raitcate flung him away. Pikachu landed harshly near Ash's feet.

"Pikachu are you alright?"

"Pika," said Pikachu with a nod, panting and wincing in pain.

"Alright use **Agility** and then paralyze him with **Thunder Wave!"**

Pikachu did as his trainer commanded, though he was significantly slower than the last time he used Agility. Raticate shuddered from the paralysis.

"Raticate, use the hole that Sandshrew dug to escape" said AJ using Ash's strategy. Raticate nodded and overcame its paralysis and dived into the ground through Sandshrew's hole.

"Pikachu, follow him!" It hadn't occurred to him that Pikachu could easily follow Raticate.

"PIKACHU!" The Electric Mouse cried out in determination before following Raticate beneath the earth.

"Raticate, NOW! Turn around and use **Quick Attack**!" Countered AJ.

Ash was not prepared for that maneuver and heard Pikachu cry in pain signifying success in Raticate's attack.

"Pikachu!" Yelled Ash in concern since he could not see what was happening underground.

"Chuuuu," came a weak voice of Pikachu who barely crawled out of the hole.

"You did well, return Pikachu," said Ash, but Pikachu refused and stood up back again.

"Where is Raticate?" AJ looked at the ground in confusion since Raticate had yet to come out of the hole. Ash closed his eyes and focused. The world around him suddenly looked as if it were a living X-Ray and everything was now dark with dark blue outlines composed of Aura. He then directed his vision through the Aura and looked into the ground where he saw Raticate sitting, his aura fluctuating rapidly. It was then that Ash understood exactly what happened.

"You paralyzed him didn't you?" Ash asked Pikachu. Pikachu's Thunder Wave did a great job of coming through for the young trainer and Ash decided to take advantage of it.

"Chu!" He nodded and immediately Raticate emerged out of the hole, though he collapsed on the ground as electricity sparked around his body. The Normal-type was now a sitting duck and Ash struck.

"**Thunderbolt**, give him all you have got buddy" said Ash to Pikachu

Raticate was unable to move due to the paralysis and the golden bolt of electricity made contact with the evolved form of Rattata. The Normal-type released a loud cry of pain as electricity flooded Raticate's body and ignited every single nerve ending in his body with pain. The **Thunderbolt** then died down and he collapsed.

Pikachu gave a smirk of victory as Ash grinned widely as his tenacious partner.

"I lost?" AJ whispered. He then gave a look of acknowledgement at Ash. After the exchange, Pikachu's tough act broke down and the young Pokemon's legs wobbled before he fell down. Ash ran to his partner and picked him up, petting the Electric Mouse's head affectionately.

"Well Pikachu it seems that this is your current limit. You did very well, I am so proud of you," he grinned. Pikachu nodded before falling into a blissful state of unconsciousness.

"I can't believe I lost," said AJ.

"Well you were overconfident and you need to know that you won't win all your battles because there is always someone better," said Ash.

Ash always wondered what had happened of AJ and he found out that he had grown overconfident and ended up losing all his Pokemon to thieves. With that information in mind, Ash had decided to give him a dose of humility. Hopefully this time he would see AJ in the Indigo League. Ash then turned to leave his opponent, but stopped when AJ called out to him.

"Hey, Ash!" Ash glanced back at him over his shoulder. "How did you train your Pokémon?" Asked AJ.

"Everyone has his or her own method of training, that's not so important. I can see you train and raise your pokémon well. What you need to know are a few things. A Pokémon's health is your responsibility and I mean mental and physical health. Everything and anything comes after the health. In a victory or a defeat you are as responsible as your Pokémon and lastly, confidence is good, overconfidence is bad. The rest you will figure out as you gain experience," explained Ash.

After healing all of Pikachu's injuries with a Super Potion, Ash kept his little buddy in his arms to allow him to snooze without disruption and without having to take out a Poke Ball. "Hey AJ, do you know anywhere near where Pikachu can rest for tonight?"

"Yeah. You guys can actually stay here for the night. The nearest Pokemon Centre is at least one day's walk from here so I think it'll be best if you and your Pokemon stay here," AJ advised. Ash gave a tentative shuffling of his feet, deciding whether or not to accept the offer.

"If it's no problem."

"Nah, it's no problem."

"Well its four o'clock, still four hours till I start preparing lunch. I will train my other Pokémon in that time then," said Ash looking his watch.

"You can use my training ground," offered AJ.

"Thanks, but I would prefer to do it in a more open area since the move I will teach my Pokémon can go wrong and accidentally hit your Pokémon," Ash replied.

"Suit yourself." AJ shrugged his shoulders and then walked off to go into his dojo-house.

During the next four hours, Arcanine and Lucario sparred while Ash taught Pidgeotto **Aerial Ace** the same way he taught Swellow. He hung a bullseye on a tree and a short distance from it, he placed a rope stretched between two sticks and had Pidgeotto train to perform the aerial loop-de-loop in order to practice gaining the momentum and speed necessary to perform Aerial Ace by going underneath the rope and to hit the bullseye.

Within the time Ash had set, Pidgeotto had learned Aerial Ace...though it still far from perfect.

Lucario had sparred with Arcanine for an hour and afterwards he trained Ash in what they now called Interpretation Aura, the branch of Aura used to understand Pokemon speech. Ash had been capable of understanding Pikachu due to their bond and being around the yellow mouse for so long, but this would aid Ash in communicating with his other Pokemon.

Arcanine worked to take of recoil damage out of **Flare Blitz** and **Wild Charge**. He showed Ash that he had already had Aura Sight battle ready, which made things look slower, countered tunnel vision and helped him sense Aura with more precision and at larger distance. He did that while he was at Professor Oak's Lab.

"Alright guys, that's enough. Time for lunch." The Pokemon nodded and followed their trainer for their much needed food.

To be continued…

**1. Umbreon**: Level 56

Quick Attack, Confuse Ray, Assurance, Payback, Hyper Beam, Moon Light, Detect, Shadow Ball, Bite, Areal Ace

**2. Lucario**: Level 80

Aura Sphere, Aura Shield, Close Combat, Extreme Speed, Flash Cannon, Dragon Pulse, Water Pulse, Heal Pulse, Dark Pulse, Bone Rush

**3. Arcanine**: Level 42

Wild Charge, Flare Blitz, Extreme Speed, Flamethrower, Solar beam, Dig, Double Team, Agility, Outrage, Iron Head

**4. Pikachu:** Level 28 (with knowledge of future, he knows all these moves but his current body can't use them to their full potential yet)

Thunderbolt, Thunder, Volt Tackle, Electro Ball, Agility, Quick Attack, Thunder Wave, Iron Tail

**5. Gyarados**: Level 25

Thrash, Bite, Dragon Dance, Water Pulse, Dragon Rage

**6. Nidorino**: Level 19

Horn Attack, Peck, Focus Energy, Double Kick, Poison Sting

**7. Butterfree **Level 19

Tackle, Harden, Sleep Powder, Poison Powder, Stun Spore, Confusion, Whirlwind, Bug Bite, String Shot

**8. Pidgeotto **Level 22

Gust, Whirlwind, Quick Attack, Agility, Wing Attack, Twister, Sand Attack, Aerial Ace

**9. Zubat **Level 14

Leech Life, Supersonic, Brave Bird, Steel Wing, Astonish, Bite

Many have asked me about the giant Dragonite, I will say you to wait and see, and remember this is Fanfiction, my imagination molds this story.

I also hope you liked my battle against AJ, if you think there are things you can improve please say them in review


	7. Chapter 6

**I DO NOT OWN POKÉMON**

CHAPTER 6

It was the middle of the a foggy forest with some wild Pokémon running around the area, Ash and his trusty Pikachu were walking towards the Pokémon Technical Institute.

"Boy, it sure is foggy here isn't it buddy?" asked Ash. "If it wasn't for the Aura Sight I would be completely lost."

"Pika Pika." He gestured to Ash.

"Yeah like the last time." laughed Ash with an embarrassed look on his face. "I was quite stupid then, wasn't I?"

"Pikachu."

"Yeah, I mean who goes around the forest looking for firewood saying 'Here firewood, here firewood', as if it were a Lillipup or something." said Ash as he continued walking.

"Hey Pikachu, its Joe. It seems that he is being bullied again." said Ash as he squinted through the mist. "Let's go and get things right this time."

* * *

"Listen, just because it's foggy out here doesn't mean your brain has to be in a fog." said the Green-haired Pokémon Tech Student.

"It's a Pidgey." Said Joe.

"Nice guess, you just got lucky." said the Red-haired Pokémon Tech Student.

"Okay now tell us what its special attack is?" asked the Green-haired Pokémon Tech Student

"Pidgey learns Gust at Level 5 and Sand Attack at Level 9."

"Everybody knows that. Now, can you tell me at which level Pidgey evolves and what is the name of Pidgey's advance stage?"

"Better come up with answers quick or you'll have to run faster." taunted the Green-haired Pokémon Tech Student.

"…" Joe didn't answer and kept running until he tripped, but he didn't fall because appeared Lucario and held him

"You know, I just can't stand bullies." said Ash from behind the group, bringing their attention to him.

"Mind your own business, this is a private training ground." said the Red-haired Pokémon Tech Student.

"Oh, I know this is a private training ground, but if you think you can get away with that kind of behavior, you have another thing coming." said Ash.

"This is the Pokémon Technical Institute, we have standard to maintain." said the Red-haired Pokémon Tech Student.

"I see…" said Ash as he observed all of the present students "So bullying is within the standards of Pokémon Technical Institute? Quite unbecoming of such high standard people." Said Ash as he showed him the video of their bully session he just recorded on his PokeNav's recorder application.

"I have heard of this place. Thank Arceus my mother didn't sent me here or I might have ended just like you rich snobbish brats." said Ash. "Now scram before I decide to show this video to whoever is in charge of this facility." With that being said and a glare from Lucario, the group left gritting their teeth in humiliation.

Joe immediately stopped the treadmill he was forced to run on and hopped off, panting a bit in exhaustion. He quickly regained his breath before standing up straight. Turning to Ash, he gave a small bow of thanks to Lucario, Ash and Pikachu. Lucario returned the bow, being the respectful Pokemon he is, while Pikachu and Ash merely gave a nod of their head. Lucario was returned to his Poke Ball as Joe began to speak.

"Thanks, umm…" Joe paused, raising an eyebrow as he looked to Ash.

"The name's Ash and it was no problem at all."

"I am Joe, thank you for helping me." Joe thanked Ash. "Sometimes my friends get a bit carried away."

Ash snorted, "Friends? You call those kids your friends?" Joe nodded. "With friends like that you don't need enemies."

"But they help me learn that Pidgey evolves to Pidgeotto at level 18. It learns Whirlwind at level 21, Wing Attack at level 31 and that as its level rises it learns various tricks. After evolving to Pidgeot it can fly at speeds of up to Mach 2." said Joe as he listed off the various pieces of information regarding the Bird Pokemon.

Joe then pointed a guy wearing glasses, clad in the uniform of the institute, sitting in a corner all by his lonesome. He was reading through a book quite quickly, ignoring the world around him. "See that guy over there, he is an upperclassman, but he is still a beginner even though he is so much older than the rest of us. They don't help him like they help me."

Suddenly the bell rang ending the class.

"Well its lunch time." said Joe. "Want to come to the cafeteria?"

"Sure, I've got nothing better to do right now." Ash shrugged. "Though I have already eaten."

A small period of silence passed between the two boys and Pikachu was yawning as he sat atop Ash's shoulder.

"So… tell me about what they teach you here." Ash said, feeling a bit uncomfortable with all the silence.

"Well we have math, history, literature, Pokémon species and Battle stimulation." Joe listed. "Though, my parents sent me here because it is an alternative to going through Kanto and gaining 8 badges. When I graduate I can go directly to the Indigo League. Right now I am a beginner. Beginners have the same qualifications as someone with 2 badges. The Intermediate class has the qualifications of 4 and advanced students have the same as 6. If you graduate you can enter the Pokémon league without traveling around to collect the badges." Jose explained.

"That's interesting because I have 2 badges. What do think about a battle after lunch, so I can see how good this place is." When Ash said this, a pretty young girl by the name of Giselle was just hearing range and she stopped to listen. Giselle was the same age as Ash and had black hair that fell past her shoulders. She had dark colored eyes and wore the female uniform of the Institute.

"Anthony, who is that person with Joe?" She asked the red-haired bully now known as Anthony.

"I don't know. I just saw him today." Seeing that he had an opportunity to get revenge for the humiliation, he took it. "He thinks that he is some kind of hot shot or something, he even insulted the level of education of this institute when we were helping Joe." Watching Giselle getting angry, Anthony smirked inwardly. _'Now Giselle will take care of that guy.' _He thought.

"Is that so?" She said looking Ash with a calculating look. "Then I will have to make him eat those word, now wont I?"

* * *

"This is the battle stimulation room, this is where we practice our battling skill." said Joe. "As a student of Poke-Tech I am better than someone with 2 badges. Giselle, the top student of our year, she is even better than someone with 3 badges." Joe said.

"Which Pokémon will you use?"

"Pikachu."

"A Pikachu huh?" He said as he selected a Pikachu and battled him in the stimulator. After one hit, the simulated Pikachu fell to the simulated Weepinbell. "As you see, I will win the match."

"Stimulator is one thing, real battle is another. So are you ready Joe?" Ash said with a challenging look in his eyes.

"You will be sorry."

"We shall see." said Ash. "Go Pikachu!"

"Alright, Weepinbell...let's go!"

"Pikachu, use **Thunderbolt**!"

Weepinbell was so weak that one Thunderbolt knocked him out. The electricity coursed through the Grass-type's body before Pikachu stopped the attack and revealed a burned and damaged Weepinbell.

"Huh? But Weepinbell has advantage against Electric Pokémon!"

"True but there is one thing you didn't know." Said Giselle as she appeared from behind Joe. "Your opponent has his Pikachu at a much higher level than you. You should have known that, you are an embarrassment to the whole school."

"But Giselle…" Joe tried to excuse himself, but her attention was on Ash.

"I'm the top student in the beginning class of the most exclusive club in the world, Pokémon Tech. It's sad that others aren't blessed with my beauty, my talent, my humble attitude."

'Humble?' Ash thought as Giselle continued to describe herself and listing her 'qualities'.

"People call me a star, but I'm just Giselle." Giselle introduced herself.

"I want to continue to help my class mates to be the very best they can be. To teach each other, respect each other and make the Pokémon trainers of tomorrow. But you are a weakling, you better get stronger fast or before you know it, your fellow students will turn their backs on you for good."

"As far as I can see, not coming to study here was a good decision." said Ash. "After all if I had come here, I wouldn't even have made some true friends, let's not speak the lack of level the trainers here have."

"Do not think that Joe is the best we have, out of beginner class I am the top student." Giselle said. "Battle me and I will make you eat your words."

"I know that you are the top student. Why do you think I am riling you up?" Ash said with a cocky smirk. "I want you to challenge me to a battle. I chose you, Pikachu!"

"Against your electric Pokémon, I choose Graveler! Go!" She tossed the Pokéball.

"Ladies first." said Ash with a gentlemanly bow.

"You will regret that. Graveler **Magnitude**."

"Pikachu use **Quick Attack** and go into **Iron Tail**!"

Graveler started off by taking a high jump and coming down with all his weight, but as he was centimeters from the ground, Pikachu was in front of his face with a shining metallic tail that smacked him, sending him to a surprised Giselle's feet.

"Graveler, are you alright?" Asked Giselle, concerned.

"Pikachu use **Agility** and **Iron Tail** once more before he gets up." Ash commanded.

"Wait what?!" Exclaimed Giselle, surprised. "Graveler, get up!" She urged.

Just as Graveler got to his feet, Pikachu appeared in a flash of yellow. Graveler's eyes widened at the sudden appearance of the Electric Mouse Pokemon, said Electric Mouse smirking. Pikachu spun around and smacked Graveler harshly against the wall leaving a spiderweb of cracks in the wall where he impacted, knocked out.

"It seems I win." Ash smirked.

"I lost?" Giselle spoke, still not believing it.

"Here." Said Ash as he handed her a Super Potion. "Heal up your Graveler's injuries with this."

Giselle held the Super Potion with uncertainty and sprayed it on the places she saw Graveler was hurt, gaining more confidence as she went.

"Done." she said to herself while Ash shook his head as he saw that Graveler was still in pain.

"You have never used a Potion, have you?" Asked Ash as he took the Super Potion from her. "Here, let me show you." And he explained her how to do it while all paid attention to it.

"What was that move that Pikachu did with his tail?" She asked after recalling her Graveler's beating. "It was not Ice, Water, Ground, Fighting or Grass-type yet it did lot of damage to Graveler." She asked the black haired boy.

"It is called Iron Tail, and as you can guess it is a Steel-type move."

"Steel-type? There is no such thing!" She exclaimed with a matter-of-fact tone. "There are 15 type of Pokémon Bug, Dragon, Electric, Fighting, Fire, Flying, Ghost, Grass, Ground, Ice, Normal, Poison, Psychic, Rock and Water."

"There sure is. Magnemite and Magneton are, for instance, Steel and Electric type. I even have a Steel-type pokémon with me" ash said as he pulled out a Pokéball. "Come on out Lucario."

"What's that Pokémon?"

"This Pokémon is called Lucario a dual Steel and Fighting-type that is native to the Sinnoh region." Said Ash. "There are also Dark and Fairy-type Pokemon. I have a Dark one also but he is at Professor Oak's lab. Here I will show you in the Pokédex."

"Umbreon: the Moonlight Pokémon" Came a mechanical male voice from Pokédex. "This evolved from of Eevee protects itself by spraying poisonous sweat from its pores."

"But...but we were not taught such things." She said. "Nor were we taught about that Pokémon." She said as she pointed to Lucario.

"Let me guess. You are taught that there are 150 pokémon, right?" They nodded "And those divided 15 types?" They nodded again. "Well, actually, there are over 700 pokémon counted up to the date and 18 types of Pokémon. The education system here sucks. It seems to me that they bury you in the books and simulators, without any real experience. Add to that it takes you 4 years minimum to get the equivalent of 8 badges, where I, by that time would have gotten 32 badges and have participated in 4 leagues around the world. Also no Poke-tech student has won the Indigo League to my knowledge." Said Ash.

"I am quite sure I made the right decision in not coming here."

All the students were coming to terms with what they had just learned in silence and no one spoke a thing.

"Well, if that's all, I will be taking my leave." He said breaking the silence and started to leave, Pikachu jumped on his shoulder and Lucario followed him.

"Pikachu what do you say if we stay in the forest nearby for tonight and start training in Volt Tackle."

"Pika." He nodded.

'Ash, what was all that about?' Asked Lucario.

"That school is a fraud. You remember that Riley and Bernard are scanning for all the Team Rocket activity." Lucario gave a nod "Well the information they sent me while I was still in Pallet Town said, among other things, that this school is one of the places from where they got their money. No Poké-Tech student has won the Indigo League because they never graduated. The studies end up being so hard that no one goes beyond the advanced level."

'So you gave them a reason to leave without announcing their involvement with Team Rocket.'

"Yes, after all, Team Rocket must not learn yet that we are after them yet."

"Hey! Wait a minute" Ash turned around and saw Joe and Giselle running towards him.

"Ash -_pant_- Would you mind that we travel with you, at least for a little while? I understand if you'd prefer to travel alone since most trainers do anyway." said Joe.

Ash considered it for a minute. If they traveled with him, things will most likely change. 'But haven't they already changed.' He thought 'No Team Rocket since I left Cerulean City and Misty and Brock are not with me, maybe it won't matter.'

"Sure, but only till Vermilion City, after that we will go our separate ways." Said Ash.

"That's fine by us, we just want to learn all we need to know to travel." Said Giselle.

"It will take us two weeks to reach Vermilion, I will teach you all I can in that time." Said Ash with a serious tone. "But it will not be easy, I warn you."

"We expected nothing less." They replied.

* * *

Ash, Joe, Giselle, Lucario and Pikachu were traveling through the forest. It had been three days since they left Poke-Tech and Ash was doing his best to teach the new trainers how to survive on the road.

Until now, Ash had shown them both all the methods that were required to train their Pokemon.

"Why are we going through the forest and not taking the route?" Asked Giselle

"Well the forest is where most of the wild Pokémon live. Also if you want to learn how to survive while traveling, this is better than the routes." Explained Ash "For instance, Joe, here take this map and tell us where we are." Ash passed the map and a compass to Joe. who had no idea how to read either instrument.

"Umm..." He fidgeted. "I don't know."

"Ok. Giselle give it a try" said Ash

"I never learned how to read a map." She admitted with a blush of embarrassment.

"Well, reading a map correctly is important. I hope I don't have to tell you why." Said Ash and he began to explain how a map is read and how one orients himself if they get lost.

'Ash I see a wood house like you said, it is half an hour away from here.'

'Thanks Lucario.'

"Let's go this way." Said Ash.

"But there is a river that way according to the map." Joe informed Ash.

"Yes and we are going to cross it." Ash replied.

"Can we take a break? My feet are killing me." Complained Giselle.

"Ok, rest up for half an hour and then we go to the other side of the river."

While resting Ash notices an Oddish taking a drink from a stream.

"It's so cute!" squeaked Giselle "I am going to catch it! Go Cubone."

"Cubone bone bone." He came battle ready, twirling the bone in his paws.

As soon as Oddish saw the trainers she tried to flee.

"Don't let it run away! Cubone, use **Bonemerang**!"

Cubone threw the bone it held as a boomerang towards Oddish, who insisted of fighting back, tried to run away. Three Bonemerangs later, Oddish had been weakened enough to capture.

"Now, Pokéball go!" But Giselle's Pokéball was deflected when a lengthy green vine shot out of nowhere. Giselle's eyes widened and quickly caught her Poke Ball. All the Pokemon and humans present turned as they saw a Bulbasaur that had suddenly appeared from nearby bushes. Bulbasaur then attacked with **Vine Whip** and defeated Cubone and used this opportunity to escape into the bushes with Oddish.

"Oh no, Oddish!" whined Giselle "And I was just about to capture it."

"Let's go after them, I want to capture that Bulbasaur..." said Ash as he and his two travel companions took off. "...and you can get Oddish."

"Hey look there is a bridge!" Joe pointed out.

"Stop!" Called Ash before Joe could step on the bridge

"Ok guys, another lesson. When you find a hanging bridge like this one, it may not be as secure as it looks." Ash lectured. "Because of that, you should try testing it, normally shaking it violently should do the trick and if you have a Flying-type Pokémon like I do you should also have it carry weight, like stones to the center of the bridge and see what happens." And just as Ash expected one of the ropes that held the bridge snapped as soon as he touched it.

"See, if you had stepped on that bridge you would be dragged by the currents of the river below to who knows where." Said Ash to Joe who had horrified face, knowing how close he had been to being seriously hurt...or worse.

"We are lucky that Ash was here or you would have fallen down to the river." Said Giselle. "It was a good thing that I came up with the idea to go with him."

"Yeah, thanks Ash. I would be a goner there if you hadn't stopped me." Said Joe gratefully.

"No problem." Replied Ash. "Now the thing is... how do we cross to the other side?"

"Weepinbell can hold the rope with his Vine Whip." Suggested Joe.

"No, that will not do." Ash shook his head. "Weepinbell is just not strong enough. And even if he was, another rope can snap from the other side."

"We can go down river and see if we find a sturdier bridge." Suggested Giselle.

"That is a good idea, but I have a better one." Ash said as he tossed a Pokéball into the air. "Help me out, Arcanine."

"Arcanine!" The Legendary Pokemon announced as he came out in a flash of white light.

"Wow, is that your Pokémon?" Asked Joe.

"He is gorgeous!" Giselle exclaimed with stars in her eyes.

"Yes he is." He scratched Arcanine behind his ears, to which he growled in content. "Hey buddy. Do you think that you can jump to the other side carrying us?"

Arcanine looked the distance and scoffed "Ar Arcanine nine."

"Child's play, huh?" Said Ash as he chuckled. "Well then you will carry one of us at a time. I will go first."

Arcanine knelt down and allowed Ash to climb atop his back. Pikachu moved from Ash's shoulder to the top of Arcanine's head.

"Pika." The mouse greeted the canine.

"Arc."

Arcanine then back up to the edge of the forest that led to the bridge's former location. With narrowed eyes, Arcanine dug his paws into the dirt and tense leg muscle allowed the large Fire-type to push off with amazing speed. Arcanine quickly used **Extreme Speed** and jumped to the other side of the river, where he skidded to a stop.

"Wow." Joe and Giselle stared with wide eyes at the amazing feat Arcanine had just performed. They immediately stepped back when they saw Arcanine land back in front of them, a confident smirk on his face.

"Nine?"

"WHO'S NEXT?!" Ash yelled from the other side of the small ravine. Joe and Giselle looked at each other, only for Joe to be snatched up by Arcanine. Arcanine repeated the process of leaping over the ravine with Joe and then with Giselle. Lucario jumped on his own.

'Ash, the three jokers are near.' He communicated to Ash as soon as he sensed them.

Ash gave a single nod to say that he got the message and continued walking until he sensed a pitfall ahead of them, so he discreetly maneuvered around it.

"We finally managed to catch up with the twerp and his Pikachu. And it looks like he is traveling with other two twerps." James muttered.

"Yeah, we thought he had stayed in Cerulean City when we saw the other two twerps there." Jessie added.

"He fooled us, but not for long." Meowth cackled.

"I also heard that there is a hidden village on the other side of that river." Jessie smirked as she flipped her hair.

"Let's just hope that the rumors are true" Said James with glee.

"Just wait and see what Team Rocket has planned for you, you delicious little village." Meowth grinned widely.

* * *

"Hey, look there are many Pokémon there are." Joe said pointing to a clearing.

"And there is also a cottage there, let's go and see if there is anybody in there." Added Ash.

As they came close to the clearing, many Pokémon scampered and the rest stopped doing whatever they were doing and at stared the three humans.

"I don't really feel welcomed here." Said Giselle with a nervous look.

"Yeah...I wonder what may have happened to them to be this hostile." muttered Ash and he knocked on the door of the cottage, but no one answered.

"Hello, may I help you?" Came a girl's voice from behind.

"Hi, I am Ash, and these two are Giselle and Joe." Ash gestured to his two companions.

"Hello." Joe gave a small wave while Giselle merely nodded her head.

"Hi, I am Melanie."

"Wow Melanie, there are so many Pokémon here, and they are no longer staring at us. Do all those Pokémon belong to you?" Asked Giselle.

"Oh no, this is a place where Pokémon are able to rest and relax." She said.

"Like summer camp?" Asked Joe.

Melanie giggled, "Sort of. You see, when a pokémon is injured or abandoned they can come here to heal and relax." She explained. "I take care of them until they feel better, then they leave."

As she said that, a Paras nearby removed the bandage that was worn around its back before scuttling off into the brush.

"So this is a Pokémon Center, and Melanie is a Pokémon doctor." Giselle said, planting her fist into her palm as she finally grasped an understanding of the situation.

"Oh no, I am not qualified to be a Pokémon doctor." She said. "This place is more like a Pokémon health spa. Here, the Pokémon don't battle one and another, they relax and try to enjoy themselves until they recover." She explained further.

"Melanie, if you don't mind me asking, how do you heal the Pokémon here?" Asked Ash.

"I collect plants and herbs from around this forest to heal them." She said. "I have found out which herb to use to heal a Pokémon and which one to use to help them grow stronger."

"I have to ask you a question. Did you fall in any traps while coming here?" She asked. "I set up those traps to protect the injured Pokémon here and catch Pokémon thieves before they reach the village."

"I saw those traps and avoided them." Said Ash. "And I doubt that they will work on thieves." Melanie looked saddened by the news.

"So the bridge was a trap?" Joe asked.

"Yes." Melanie nodded.

* * *

Across this bridge lies a lifetime supply of Pokémon." Said Jessie with a smirk.

"How are we ever going to carry them all back?" Asked James.

"Don't worry, we'll cross that bridge when we come to it." Said Meowth.

At that moment the other rope that was holding the bridge snapped making the three of them to fall into the river.

Lucario who was watching this happen, smirked due to the hilarity of it.

* * *

Ash, Joe and Giselle decided to help Melanie a bit and were feeding the Pokémon.

"Hey Ash, what other traps where there?" Asked Giselle.

"Well there were pitfalls and springing nets." Answered Ash. "Pretty basic and they won't keep robbers away from this place, I mean you would have to be pretty stupid to fall into them."

As soon as Lucario heard Ash say that, he saw Team Rocket fall into a third pitfall, making him to silently laugh. It won't sit well with his image to laugh loudly after all.

"This is the third hole we've fallen into! How come nobody ever falls into our traps and we always fall into theirs?" Growled Jessie.

"Well, this one was cleverly hidden, well made and…" James began to answer, but was cut off by Jessie.

"I'm glad you're enjoying it so much!" Jessie replied sarcastically.

"Meowth" Meowth moaned in pain.

Not even a minute after getting out of the pitfall did they get caught in a net. Lucario was having a very hard time trying to not laugh as they wiggled in the net trying to get free.

"Ouch my tail!" Yelled Meowth. "Look out! Stop pulling my tail!"

* * *

"Sorry about what happened in the forest." Giselle said to Oddish.

"Oddish?" The Pokémon looked curiously at the young girl.

"I shouldn't have surprised you like that, you must have been scared." She explained.

"Od Oddish." Oddish nodded.

"Melanie told me that your old trainer got rid of you, is it really because he thought you were too weak?"

"Oddish Od." Oddish nodded again.

"You know some trainers can be insensitive, but not all of us are mean like that. You just need to find a trainer that cares for his or her Pokémon." She caressed Oddish, who flinched in pain.

"Are you still hurt from the battle?" Oddish nodded. "Well this will help you feel better in no time, though it will sting a bit in the beginning." Said Giselle bringing out a Potion.

"BULBASAURRRR!" Out of the brush came an angry Bulbasaur. The Grass-type Pokemon charged towards Giselle and slammed his head harshly against her, knocking her away from Oddish. The quadrupedal Pokemon growled as it stood in front of its fellow Grass-type in a protective manner.

"Hey! Why did you tackle me?!" Yelled Giselle indignantly.

Ash seeing trouble decided to intervene.

"Hey! She was only trying to heal Oddish." He explained to Bulbasaur, who still growled in threatening manner.

"I know what you want, you want to battle" said Ash bringing out a Pokéball.

"Please wait!" Melanie stepped in middle of the two.

"Bulbasaur was only trying to protect Oddish." She explained. "He volunteered to guard our whole village."

"Huh?" The three blinked in confusion, not quite catching it. What village? It's only one cottage in middle of the forest.

"He protects all the injured Pokémon when enemies try to attack them, he is the bravest and most loyal Pokémon I know."

"But I still don't understand why he attacked me when I was only healing Oddish. It's not like I am taking Oddish from the village." Giselle said still not understanding the cause of the tackle.

"Bulbasaur Bulbasaur." He said as he pushed against Ash's legs.

"What now?" He asked.

"Bulbasaur doesn't like Pokémon trainers. He wants you to leave the village now." She explained.

"But we are not here to harm or capture them, in fact we are helping." said Giselle.

"It's true Bulbasaur, these are our friends." Said Melanie.

"You know Bulbasaur, who ever abandoned you must be stupid, because I would love to have you in my team" Ash crouched down at Bulbasur's level and caressed him where, he knew from the future, that he liked. Bulbasaur flinched from the touch, but he didn't pull away from Ash. "You really are a brave Pokémon to protect all the others." As soon he said a shadow covered them, and he heard the Team Rocket's voice.

"To protect the world from devastation...

...to unite all people within our nation.

To denounce the evils of truth and love...

...To extend our reach to the stars above.

Team Rocket blast off at the speed of light...

...surrender now or prepare to fight.

MEOWTH, THAT'S RIGHT!"

"We said our lines, now let's get those Pokémon" Said Jessie.

"They thought that their measly traps would stop us, that they had the home team advantage?" James asked rhetorically.

"No such luck, since we are the home team now." Jessie cackled.

"I congratulate myself for this brilliant idea." James laughed as he twirled his signature rose in his hand

"Don't forget that I suggested tying balloons into the stadium to move." Said Meowth.

"Well, here we go again." Ash rolled his eyes.

"Today only at Jessie Stadium, it's the team Rocket Pokémon challenge!" Announced Jessie.

"The stadium was my idea." Said James angrily and Jessie scratched her head in embarrassment giving a nervous laugh.

"All Pokémon are invited to enter the stadium." Said Jessie.

"Step right up." James gestured to the invention.

"Yeah, we're not hosin' ya. Well, maybe we are." Said Meowth with a pun about the vacuum hose.

"Arcanine, Pidgeotto help me out" He tossed their pokéball. Lucario, who was out, also came there in front of Ash waiting for orders.

"Lucario you take all of them inside the cottage. Pidgeotto make a twister with **Gust**! Arcanine **Flamethrower** in the twister and Pikachu, you use **Thunder** in it!"

They all got on to it, Lucario used **Extreme Speed** to catch Oddish and Staryu and other small Pokémon. The Aura using Pokemon quickly took them in the cottage. Giselle, Joe, and Melanie took all the other Pokémon on land inside, the pokémon in the water dived deep to avoid the suction while Pidgeotto made a twister which was powered up by Pikachu, Arcanine and Bulbasaur who wasn't going to sit out and let others do his job and added **Razor Leaf** to an incredible twister of fire and lightning. Needless to say that Team Rocket didn't stand a chance.

Team Rocket blasted off yet again, a twinkle in the sky marking their exit.

"Well that's that." Said Ash proud of his work, dusting his hands as if he were finished taking out the trash.

"Is everybody feeling ok?" Asked Melanie.

"Well of course," said Ash scratching Bulbasaur behind the ears. "After all, this place is well protected with Bulbasaur here."

"Ash, wouldn't Bulbasaur be an excellent addition to your team?" Melanie asked with a small smile.

"Of course he will!" Said Ash. "But why are you asking me that?"

"Well that's because I think Bulbasaur should go with you." She said. "Bulbasaur stayed here to protect the weak pokémon, but this village is too small and the bulb on his back can't grow, he needs to go out to the world. And I know that you will take a good care of him."

"Are you sure?" She nodded and Ash smiled at the response "Well then I promise to bring Bulbasaur to meet you once again when his bulb grows and flourish as an Ivysaur or a Venusaur." Ash said with a tip of his hat.

"I would love to see him once he has into a gorgeous Ivysaur or a majestic Venusaur." Added Melanie before Bulbasaur could protest. Seeing that it was the wish of the person who meant a lot to him he accepted, but he wasn't going to go without a battle.

"Bul Ba Bulbasaur." said Bulbasaur and Melanie giggled. "It seems that Bulbasaur won't go just like that, he wants to challenge you to a Pokémon battle."

"Very well then. Pidgeotto I choose you!" Pidgeotto came out and landed in front of Ash, staring at Bulbasaur.

Bulbasaur started off by charging into a **Tackle** attack.

"Pidgeotto, go up in the sky and use **Gust**!"

Bulbasaur's Tackle missed because Pidgeotto had taken off into the sky with a simple flap of her wings. After skidding to halt, Bulbasaur launched his Vine Whip, but was blown away by Gust

"Follow it up by **Aerial Ace**!"

Taking a loop in the air, Pidgeotto sped towards Bulbasaur who countered it with **Razor Leaf**, but just as the razor sharp leaves were about to hit Pidgeotto, she disappeared and appeared in front of Bulbasaur hitting him with Aerial Ace. Bulbasaur soared through the air and slammed into a tree.

"Now, go Pokéball!" After a tense moment of silence while the ball was twitching, the light on its center turned off signifying the successful capture.

"Yes! We did it!" Ash whooped. "We caught a Bulbasaur!"

"PIDGEOTTO!"

"PI PIKACHU!"

'This is just perfect.' Thought Ash. 'Not only did we catch Bulbasaur again, now he is also willing to evolve.'

The next morning, Ash, Giselle and Joe said their goodbyes to Melanie and left towards the direction of Vermillion City. Giselle had caught an Oddish and a Staryu, while Joe had captured Paras and Magikarp. Ash had also gotten an Oddish, though he sent her to Cameran Palace, to the princess as a birthday gift, she loved the small Pokémon and Mime Jr. had a friend now.

* * *

Ash, Giselle and Joe were walking through the wild forest, following Ash's lead when they reached the place. Ash remembered Charmander had waited after being abandoned by Damian, but he was early by two days.

"Ash my feet are killing me." Whined Giselle.

"The Pokémon Center is only half an hour away, let's go and rest there." Ash informed the former tech student. "Also we will stay here for few days so we can train a bit and I there's a Pokemon in this area that I want to catch." He told her with the hidden ntent to catch Charmander.

Just as they were about leave they heard shouting not far away. Ash pulled Joe and Giselle behind the bushes and covered their mouths so that they didn't make a sound.

"You are the weakest and the most pathetic Pokémon I have seen!" The man scolded and kicked his hurt and weakened Charmander. "Get lost you weak and pathetic Pokémon. You are worth not one shit!"

Joe, Giselle and Ash were ready to seriously hurt that guy, but Ash had to stop them because he had a better way. He recorded the entire session and how Damian abused his injured pokémon, how Charmander still loyally followed him, how he ended up abandoning Charmander on a rock with false promises of coming to pick him up later, the tone he used was as if he would be doing Charmander a great favour coming back for him.

After he went away, Ash let Joe and Giselle free.

"Why did hold us back, guys like that deserve a good kick in their nuts!" Raged Giselle.

"Because I have recorded all of it and I am going to send it to Officer Jenny. If you had intervened and stopped him, I wouldn't have any proof, and who says he won't do it later when you aren't there. But with this he will lose his trainer license for sure and most likely be sent to a juvenile detention centre or prison for his crime of abusing Pokemon."

"I will also contact grandpa to make sure that it happens."

"Your grandfather?" Asked Ash. Pikachu and Joe looked at the girl with equally confused expressions.

"Yes, my full name is Giselle Goodshow, granddaughter of Charles Goodshow, who is…"

"He is the President of the Pokémon league!" Ash exclaimed.

"Exactly!" She said with a wink. "If he saw this behavior, not only will he get his license revoked, but he won't ever be able to get another one in any region."

"Well, let's do that." Said Ash. "As I said, there is a Pokémon Center not far away from here, we can call from there."

Pokémon League informed that it would take 2 days for a representative to reach there and Officer Jenny couldn't handle the case alone by law because she had no way to know the context of said encounter nor did she have permission to judge a person.

Until that time, Charmander was getting weaker and weaker, he stubbornly refused to move and Ash didn't want to put Charmander in a near-death situation again, so he tried to convince Charmander.

"Charmander, listen to me." Pleaded Ash. "Damian is not going to come back."

"Char Charmander." He stubbornly shook his head.

"Let me show you something." Said Ash. Charmander raised his head slightly as he watched the young trainer before him. "when you throw a pokéball to a wild pokémon he or she gets sucked into it, if he or she has a trainer the pokéball just bounces off. Joe would you please call any of your Pokémon."

"Umm… sure." Shrugged Joe. "Come on out Weepinbell."

"Let's give it a try and see if it is true. Go Pokeball!" Said Ash as he tossed the Pokéball, but it just bounced of Weepinbell. "See." He said to Charmander.

"Now let's give it a try with you." Ash said. "Go Pokéball!" And as Ash predicted Charmander did indeed get sucked in the Pokéball, but he stubbornly refused to get caught and came out of the ball.

"You got sucked in the Pokéball. That means that Damian released you, and you are in no condition for staying out here. If you don't want to get captured, please, at least come to the Pokémon Center and get yourself healed." said Ash. "And Damian is there, so you can meet him." He added for a further act of persuading Charmander to come.

Charmander, seeing that Ash only had best intentions for him and he really didn't want to die, accepted to follow Ash, but he was so weak that he fell after few steps.

"Charmander!" Exclaimed Ash, concerned. "Are you alright?"

"Char." The Flame Pokemon nodded. Though Ash knew Charmander was too weak, he also knew he was too prideful and loyal to fault. Last time Damian did a number on his mentality, but this time he would make sure he didn't became an arrogant, lazy Charizard. As they walked, Charmander wobbled and nearly fell a few times. The only reason he didn't fall was because Ash was there to catch him. By the time they reached the Pokémon Center, Charmander was panting in exhaustion.

"Nurse Joy, we need help!" Ash yelled as soon as he entered through the doors.

* * *

Damian was furious, how dare they threaten him of revoking his license because of a weak, pathetic Charmander. His friends were probably laughing on him, and now he couldn't leave the Pokémon Center because Officer Jenny prohibited him, or he would have gone and shown that Charmander how he truly felt about him. Just then his attention was shifted to the door where a kid with a Charmander had called for help.

'Wait!' He thought. 'That is MY Charmander! How dare he disobey me and show his face here after all he has done!'

"You stupid, overgrown lizard!" Came Damian storming towards the group. "Do you know what you just cost me? You fucking. overgrown lizard!"

Joe, Giselle and Pikachu looked ready to beat the boy before them into a bloody stain on the wall, but a glare from the Aura using trainer prevented them from carrying it out. Ash wanted to beat up that guy so badly, but Charmander had to hear this, he had to know that his trainer didn't want him. It was the only way to get the things in his stubborn head right now,

"Why are you still here? I left you to die over there!" He continued, his face red with rage. "How dare you disobey me and come here."

But he crossed the line when he began to kick the weakened Charmander. Ash punched him so hard that a single punch knocked the daylights out of him. Officer Jenny came rushing when she heard the commotion and saw Damian knocked out with a bloody nose and a Charmander in really bad shape near him.

"What happened here?" She asked.

"Later officer Jenny, the fire on Charmander's tail is very weak, he need medical attention urgently."

"Place him over here." Urged Nurse Joy and she rushed him into emergency room.

"Now, what happened here?" She asked and Ash told her how he had convinced Charmander to come here to get healed, how Damian attacked Charmander in his weakened state and why he knocked him out. Jenny scowled at the downed man before raising him up and handcuffing his unconscious form.

"There's a special place in jail cells and hell, for people like this." Jenny said.

* * *

The next day when Charmander woke up, he began to cry. The emotions were so strong that Ash didn't needed Aura interpretation to understand. Charmander kept questioning himself why was he treated that way when he was so loyal to Damian. What was his fault in this whole thing? Why was everything so unfair since he got caught?

"It was not your fault, Charmander." said Ash consoling the emotional Pokémon. "Some people are cruel like that and you cannot do anything to change it. But I promise you that he won't harm you again."

"Char Char Mander Charmander." He said between sobs. The little fire lizard hiccuped as he buried his head in Ash's chest.

"You want to be the strongest, huh?" Said Ash. Charmander nodded stiffly. "Well then I can help you there."

Charmander's head snapped up. "Let's make a promise to each other, I promise you that I will train you to be one of the strongest Charizard out there, and you promise me that you will always obey me, no matter how hard or strange my training methods are."

"Charmander." The Flame Pokémon hugged Ash and the tears of sorrow from moments before were washed away by the tears of happiness.

The next day, a representative of the Pokémon league had finally arrived and Officer Jenny interrogated Damian. They found out that he, illegally, had many more Pokémon than he was permitted. All of them were drugged with cheap enhancing drugs and many were bought from poachers. All of that coupled with the Pokémon abuse had things ending badly for Damian. Needless to say that he was sent to prison and all of the Pokémon he had were sent to treatment against such drugs and returned to their natural habitats and some would be eventually returned to their original trainers.

And to add icing to the cake, Charmander had given him a **Flamethrower** as a goodbye gift.

"Char Charmander Char!" (Translation: Suck it, bitch!)

* * *

**AN: I am foregoing the level system, because I think that they are a bit restrictive in a fanfiction **

**Umbreon**:Quick Attack, Confuse Ray, Assurance, Payback, Hyper Beam, Moon Light, Detect, Shadow Ball, Bite, Areal Ace

**Lucario**: Aura Sphere, Aura Shield, Close Combat, Extreme Speed, Flash Cannon, Dragon Pulse, Water Pulse, Heal Pulse, Dark Pulse, Bone Rush

**Arcanine**: Wild Charge, Flare Blitz, Extreme Speed, Flamethrower, Solar beam, Dig, Double Team, Agility, Outrage, Iron Head

**Pikachu**: Thunderbolt, Thunder, Volt Tackle, Electro Ball, Agility, Quick Attack, Thunder Wave, Iron Tail

**Gyarados**:Thrash, Bite, Dragon Dance, Water Pulse, Dragon Rage

**Nidorino**:Horn Attack, Peck, Focus Energy, Double Kick, Poison Sting

**Butterfree**: Tackle, Harden, Sleep Powder, Poison Powder, Stun Spore, Confusion, Whirlwind, Bug Bite, String Shot

**Pidgeotto**: Gust, Whirlwind, Quick Attack, Agility, Wing Attack, Twister, Sand Attack, Aerial Ace

**Zubat**:Leech Life, Supersonic, Brave Bird, Steel Wing, Astonish, Bite

**Bulbasaur**: Vine Whip, Razor Leaf, Tackle, Growl

**Charmander**: Ember, Flamethrower, Scratch, Smokescreen


End file.
